Mission Statement
The mission of the Howard School Preservation Association is to preserve and restore Warrensburg, Missouri’s historic Howard School building and to support and maintain an educational/cultural center and museum for the purpose of promoting a greater awareness of the important and valued contributions of Johnson County’s African American community.
Elaboration
The Howard School is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NR-2-14-02) was erected in 1888 by the Warrensburg School Board as a replacement for an 1867 one-room African American school located at the same site. It is one of Missouri’s oldest remaining African American school buildings and also a rare example of a Missouri school with documentation linking its early history to each of the three principal agencies that were responsible for the development of black schools in the state following the Civil War: the American Missionary Association, the Freedmen’s Bureau, and the Missouri Public Schools system. After its completion in 1888, the building was the sole public educational facility in Warrensburg available to African American students until its closing in 1955 following the integration of the public schools. To a remarkable degree its well-documented history is a microcosm for the larger story of the struggle by African Americans to attain educational and social parity in Missouri.
The not-for-profit Howard School Preservation Association will seek to raise funds to restore and maintain the historic structure. It will also endeavor to create and operate a cultural/educational center and museum that will serve as a place for the dissemination of information concerning the historic building and African American culture in the Warrensburg community. The museum will feature exhibits showcasing African American memorabilia and artifacts and recognize the accomplishments of members of the local African American community. In tandem with the adjacent Blind Boone Park, it has the potential to become an important African American cultural heritage attraction that will draw tourists to Warrensburg.