Anne Levin recounts the history of The Bordentown School–Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth, which was set on 400 acre and which combined a high level academic program with learning a trade. In an interview, John Medley, a graduate and unofficial school historian, noted that even with the best training graduates had difficulty finding jobs. “But the determination and inspiration we got from the teachers enabled us to continue,” Medley said. Sources of information about the school include “A Place out of Time,” a 2010 documentary by Dave Davidson, Reclaiming African American Students: Legacies, Lessons, and Prescriptions; The Bordentown School Model written by the founder’s granddaughter, Mildred Rice Jordan, published in 2017, and a 2018 film made by students from Cherry Hill High School East, called “Compromised by Conflict: The Bordentown School and the Struggle for Black Education.” To read the entire Levin article, click here.
