The Junaluska Story

1937 Watauga Consolidated School

The Watauga Consolidated School was built for Black elementary school students in 1937 to provide a central facility for their education. The previous school for Black children in Boone, was torn down and replaced with the Consolidated School by the Works Progress Administration during the New Deal era. The 1937 building consisted of a single room divided in half by a cloth curtain.¹ James McQueen, a student at the school, recalled spending a lot of his time with his peers in the school house. When asked about the school, he said, “I loved elementary school. I was fascinated by history, especially American history. I loved math. I did not want to be a teacher, but I admired my teacher for knowing so much. The world was full of knowledge, and I wanted a piece of it.”²

Originally, Gertrude Tolbert Folk served as the sole teacher of all 62 students, from kindergarten to eighth grade.³ After years of teaching alone, her former student, Frazier Horton, was hired to help her oversee the growing number of students.⁴ Folk’s love of teaching continued after she retired as she served as a substitute teacher at the new school.⁵

The Consolidated school was a milestone for Junaluska and a point of pride for the neighborhood. The school provided a community for the children, gave its students the opportunity and the skills needed to succeed in the world, and produced many successful graduates, including two of Folk’s children.⁶ The school also provided opportunities for student enrichment. Barbara Anne Whittington was a student at the Consolidated School, and was the valedictorian of her class in 1950. She described working hard on an essay for a contest at school. In the end she won the contest and earned the prize of a $100 war bond and a special dinner for her and her classmates.⁷

The 1937 Watauga Consolidated School still stands in the Junaluska neighborhood, though it has not been in use as a school since it was replaced by a larger building in 1959. The building was eventually reconfigured into a duplex apartment. The 1937 Watauga Consolidated School is not only a historical landmark but is also a symbol of the strength and spirit of the Junaluska community.

Image of Gertrude Tolbert Folk, Teacher at Watauga Consolidated School (1892-1974)

Susan Keefe, ed., Junaluska: Oral Histories of a Black Appalachian Community, Jefferson NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2020, 47.

The 1937 Watauga Consolidated School

Erig Plaag, “Image of the Old Consolidated School,” Watauga County Historical Society, January 2021, https://www.wataugacountyhistoricalsociety.org/blog-1/2022/12/15/wchs-announces-gertrude-tolbert-folk-as-next-inductee-to-the-wchs-hall-of-fame

Barbara Ann Jackson, who is reported to have graduated from Watauga Consolidated School between 1954-1956

Palmer Blair, Graduation Portraits of Barbara Anne Jackson, Digital Watauga, accessed January 24, 2025, https://digitalwatauga.org/items/show/5776.

Bibliography

“Barbara Ann Whittington Obituary.” Austin and Barnes Funeral Home. Accessed January 2025. https://www.austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com/obituary/Barbara-Whittington.

Keefe, Susan, ed. Junaluska: Oral Histories of a Black Appalachian Community. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. 2020.

Mobley, Jillyan. “Women’s History Month: The Teacher of a Generation.” Watauga Democrat, March 15, 2023. https://www.wataugademocrat.com/community/womens-history-month-the-teacher-of-a-generation/article_89f7299e-bd0a-11ed-bde9-ffaf503f6304.html

Woods, Jennifer. “WCHS Announces Gertrude Tolbert Folk as Next Inductee to the WCHS Hall of Fame”, Watauga County Historical Society, December 15, 2022. https://www.wataugacountyhistoricalsociety.org/blog-1/2022/12/15/wchs-announces-gertrude-tolbert-folk-as-next-inductee-to-the-wchs-hall-of-fame.