Collinsville native Timothy “Cas” Williams grew up hearing stories from his uncle, Owen “OJ” Ford, during Bible school about the Black school they attended in his hometown.

Now, with children of his own, Williams said he is determined to provide a way for younger generations to hear the same stories.

He has taken on the task of raising funds to put up a historical marker detailing the history of Collinsville’s Black churches and school, as well as writing copy for the marker and determining its ultimate location.

“I have two kids, a daughter who’s 10 and a son who is 13, and they see these buildings around here, the old school, and they didn’t even know what they were,” Williams said. “So, it kind of inspired me to get a historical marker there.”

Collins Chapel United Methodist Church, where Ford serves as interim pastor, and Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, both on Church Avenue, are the backbone of the Black community in Collinsville. Many members attend both churches. The long-closed, historically Black Gregory  School started in churches before the first school building was built. And when the school building burned down – twice – classes were, again, held in churches while reconstruction took place.

Owen “OJ” Ford and Timothy “Cas” Williams. (contributed)

The old, segregated Gregory School now houses a restaurant and event space. (contributed)

In the early 1960s, the DeKalb County School System constructed a segregated school for Black children in grades one through 12, with a gym. Many former students refer to this final home for Gregory as the “new school.”

Many older Black residents in Collinsville attended Gregory School before integration in 1968. They remember Gregory fondly and the unique success of the school.

Ford and his wife, Frankie, met while attending Miles College in Fairfield. Originally from Birmingham, Ford followed his wife to Collinsville to teach at the very school she graduated from. He taught math, science and social studies at Gregory High before it closed.

Decades later, the old school building remains; a portion of the structure now houses a local restaurant and event space.

“There were many wonderful things that happened in that school. Before the school closed, we had over 100 and some trophies that we won for everything from football to basketball, music, speech, oratorical contests, I mean you name it,” Ford said.

Because the school was within walking distance of most of its students, the teachers and students belonged to the same nearby churches. Ford attributes the specialness of Gregory to the relationship among the teachers, students and parents.

“Whenever we had a discipline problem, we came to the parents, and they understood, so they gave us instructions on what to do, how to deal with those problems,” Ford recalled.

Frankie Ford experienced firsthand the closeness of Gregory. “I want the school to be remembered for its heritage, for its togetherness, and to let everyone know that there once was a Black school in Collinsville,” she said.

Julia Orr, a former student of Ford, said she wants Gregory to be remembered for the students who graduated and went on to help the community of Collinsville. “I like the education that Ford instilled in me because I’m a better person for what I learned from him and all the Black teachers at Gregory,” Orr said.

Laila Orr and Destini Jones. (contributed)

Laila Orr and Destini Jones, granddaughters of Julia Orr, are part of the future generation that motivates Smith and his elders to work to preserve local Black history.

The girls explained that much of their knowledge about Black history came directly from stories from their grandmother. They said the historical marker would be a way for young people who may not have had those lessons to learn about the past.

“We know everybody else’s history, so they should get to know ours. I think it’s important to know the history, just to see how far they’ve come and how things have changed,” Laila Orr said.

Williams said the effort to install the historic marker is a way to give back to the community that raised him.

“Collinsville is home to me. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just a different feeling. This will always be home,” he said.

Payton Davis, a Living Democracy student at Auburn University, spent the summer of 2023 living and learning in the town of Collinsville, Alabama, as a Jean O’Connor Snyder Intern with the David Mathews Center for Civic Life. The nonprofit program, coordinated by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, prepares undergraduate college students for civic life through living-learning experiences in the summer.