Practical Info
History
Hazel Green Academy was founded at the urging of Mrs. Lou Mize, wife of state senator William Oldham Mize. Billy Mize secured financial backing from W.O. Mize, J.T. Day, and Green Berry Swango, each of whom donated $500 toward the school’s construction. 1 Despite this support, the project initially received only lukewarm interest from the local community.
The Academy opened in the fall of 1880, with tuition and boarding costs covered through outside donations and work scholarships. 1 3 As one contemporary account put it: “Hazel Green Academy is established as a Mission for the Kentucky mountains; hence its very low rates of tuition, and the offer of the managers to educate free of charge the worthy indigent… By giving young men and women a taste of better things, we hope to fill them with a noble ambition to rise in life.”
During executive committee sessions in 1885 and 1886, the Academy negotiated with the Christian Woman’s Board of Missions of Kentucky to take over the school’s control and management. 3 Under a provisional agreement, J.W. McGarvey, a professor at the College of the Bible in Lexington, and R.T. Mathews, representing the women of Kentucky, served jointly as proprietors and trustees. This arrangement continued until May 1888, when full control passed to the Christian Woman’s Board of Missions.
Growth
In its early years, the Academy’s curriculum focused mainly on college preparatory coursework, alongside religious activities and extracurriculars like contests and athletics. In 1900, the school added a two-year ministry training program, followed by a five-month business course through its new Commercial Department in 1903. 1 An Industrial Department followed in 1908.
In 1920, the Academy came under the direct oversight of the United Christian Missionary Society, a branch of the Disciples of Christ Christian Church. 1 The school expanded its land holdings in 1924 with a large tract along the river to grow its working farm, and by the mid-1920s featured a 212-acre farm, a used clothing store, a small hospital, and a kindergarten. 1 The Industrial Arts Building’s basement generated electricity for both the campus and the town of Hazel Green. Between 1928 and 1950, the Academy added a large dairy barn (with the county’s first silo), a deepwater well, an administration building, and a gymnasium.
Decline
As free public schools became more widely available, enrollment in grades one through six steadily declined through the 1910s and 1920s. By 1929, the Academy had narrowed its focus to middle and high school students only. 1 3 Under Henry Stovall’s leadership in the 1930s, the school expanded its role in community-based programs.
From 1933 to 1953, the second floor of the male dormitory operated as a twelve-bed hospital, and later as a health clinic from 1956 to 1959. 1 3 The Academy co-sponsored a bookmobile from 1958 to 1960, which eventually led to a public library operated by the Academy in the 1960s. 1
Enrollment continued to slide throughout the mid-20th century, as public schools offered a comparable education at lower cost while paying teachers more. Grades seven and eight were cut in 1965, along with all farming operations. 1 3
Around this time, the Division of Home Ministries, then overseeing the Academy through the Christian Church, began transferring administrative and financial responsibility to local officials. 1 Hazel Green Academy became an independent institution affiliated with the Christian Church in 1971, launching a major push to strengthen fundraising and recruitment in hopes of reducing teacher turnover and boosting enrollment.
It proved only a temporary fix. On June 30, 1983, facing a growing fiscal deficit, the Board of Directors voted not to reopen the school that fall. 2
Photographs
Administration & Classroom Building
The administration and classroom building was erected in the 1930s.
Laundry & Store
The laundry and store facility was built in 1952.
Helen E. Moses Memorial Building
The Helen E. Moses Memorial Building was a male dormitory. Named for Mrs. Moses who served for years as president of the Christian Women’s Board of Missions, it was built in 1908 of stuccoed masonry. 4 In 1928, it contained a suite for the superintendent and 75 students. The building was renovated in 1968.
Ford Industrial Building
Constructed in 1908, the Industrial Building was where arts and crafts were taught. The building was the gift of Mrs. E.L. Ford and her two daughters of Detroit, Michigan. 4 It housed the power, heating and lighting plants, the forging and carpentry rooms, the Industrial Arts and Home Economics rooms.
Gymnasium
The gymnasium was constructed in 1935.
Pearre Hall
The female dormitory was built in 1901 and featured classical revival architectural elements. It was named after Mrs. Caroline Neville Pearre, founder of the Christian Women’s Board of Missions. It was used as a classroom building from 1901 until 1930, and then as a dormitory for 35 residents, and as a dining hall and kitchen. 4
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Sources & Citations
References for this location, in MLA format.
- “Guide to the Hazel Green Academy Collection, History.” Hutchins Library Special Collections & Archives, Berea College, ↗
- Eblen, Tom. “Hazel Green Academy students celebrate reunion with plans to restore campus buildings.” Herald-Leader, 13 Aug. 2013. Accessed 5 Sept. 2014.
- Jonms, Calvin P. Hazel Green Academy Historic Buildings. United States Department of the Interior, Sept. 1978. ↗ Accessed 9 Sept. 2014.
My grandparents lived at the bottom of the hill. My grandmother ran an upholstery shop out of the house and also my grandfather built the house they lived in
2 of my uncle’s went to HGA. Played basketball as well and my Daddy and oldest uncle also coached the basketball teams. My grandmother sewed all the cheerleader outfits (green and gold) I still remember the outfits. I had one even though I was not an actual cheerleader I was a mascot of sorts. I use to love to climb the hill and go to the bookstore and also play around the area. And I remember one year going to a Christmas show in the auditorium. The students that put on the show the way they were positioned on the stage made it look like a human Christmas tree. Many fond memories. Oh and loved sledding down the hill as well.
I enjoyed your HGA remarks very much, but as a near-lifetime Academy researcher, it would help me a lot to know the names of the people you mentioned. I probably know some of them. I was there as a student, 1958-63 and teacher, 1971-72.
I lived here from age 8 until about a year after the school closed. My mother was the assistant to the principal. We lived in the orange brick house two houses to the left of the boys’ dorm. I almost burned the whole property down one summer lighting firecrackers (the jumping kind) on the concrete basketball court. Thank goodness the school had its own fire truck!!
I remember this place very fondly: my first kiss, tree forts in the woods, being able to leave the doors unlocked, first broken bone, tree climbing in my back yard, and my first cat! That’s the short list.
Funny thing about that house was the basement was used to store the huge bags of grains and beans for the cafeteria. My cat would sit at the top of the basement stairs and kill the bugs those darn bags attracted.
What years were you there? Kari??
1980 to 1983/84
My father graduated from HGA in 1925. His mother was a dorm mother. His father had died when he was 11. He was valedictorian of his class and went on to Transylvania in Lexington and then to Tulane Medical School. Unfortunately he died of a second heart attack in 1959. He was William Ray Swango. As a family we would attend homecomings at HGA every year and visit with relatives and his friends. Good memories.
I grew up in Wolfe county… they tried to used. The hga in 84 or 85 for 8th or 9 th grade … was atrial period… as a kid I loved it there… I d love to own a house right there on the property… I miss it
Our PawPaw Grover not only attended Hazel Green Academy as a child (roughly the years 1942-1946) along with his siblings, he later in life (1982) went back to teach a year. He was saddened when the Academy had to close in 1983, but he understood their reasoning. He has many, many stories about Hazel Green (all wonderful, of course). His memory isn’t as strong as it used to be, but the stories about Hazel Green always stick in his mind. I would love to try and find some old photos from around his time there, to help him keep his memories strong and cherished. <3 Thank you so much for sharing this story and these photos. :-)
To Hollbrook. I knew PawPaw from my years at HGA as well as his wife, your grandmother. Your grandmother ran the little store/rec room on campus were we got to go in the evenings. We loved going there as we could meet up with our boyfriends. Your grandmother would turn the other way so us couples could sneak in a kiss or two. Your grandfather was nightly “security” on campus. It is hard to believe he is still alive as I thought back in 81 or 82 he was like 70 then LOL. I still have my yearbook from then and often reminese about the good times there and were everyone is now. Did your PawPaw Tell you the real reason the school shut down? The scandal with the boys basketball coach?
What a wonderful location this would be for assisted living!
Very thoughtful comment and you graduated the year I was there and you could have been Sandy Collins or Sandra Gulley or was it Gullet?
I attended grades 9-12 and graduated from HGA in 1974. The teachers were superb, the campus was beautiful, and many tender memories still linger. It breaks my heart to see the girls’ dormitory abandoned, open and vulnerable to the weather. May the Lord bless all those who entered this hallowed institution of learning.
Thanks for asking: 1973-74 and lived in the yellow house.
I taught and coached there for only one year and saw the good things that school had done and was doing and brings tears to my eyes, as it is so sad that it was allowed to just go to ruin like this.
What years, Sam?
I graduated from 8th grade at The Hazel Green Academy. I want to say it was in 1982 or 83?
The last HGA 7th grade was ended in May, 1963. The last HGA 8th grade was ended in May, 1965. So, did you graduate from the 8th grade before those years, instead of 1982-83?