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Southern Normal School, a junior and senior high boarding school, was
founded in 1911 by a Christian layman, James Dooley. Dooley began his work at the mission school as early as 1909. The aim
of the school, as Dooley saw it, was to “educate the heart, head and hand of our youth.” The school was operated
under the Board of Domestic Missions of the Reformed Church in America as one of its permanent projects in 1919. The location
was south-central Alabama, three miles northeast of Brewton, which was served by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and
U.S. Highways 31 and 29.
Southern Normal was a preparatory school with high academic standards. It
prepared its students to enter first-rate colleges upon graduation. The curriculum was rich and varied, and provided well-rounded
cultural, intellectual and religious training.
The religious life of the campus found expression in daily, school-day
devotions, Sunday school, preaching services and Youth Fellowship meetings. Daily courses in the Bible were taught in the
11th and 12th grades. Special services such as Religious Emphasis Week, Good Friday services, and Spring Youth Conferences
were annual events. Bergen Memorial Chapel, dedicated in March 1950, was modeled after the beautiful Old
Bergen Dutch Reformed Church in Jersey City, New Jersey, and was the center of campus life.
The History of "The Old Bergen Reformed Church"
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The school enrollment was nearly 350 at its peak. The boarding students came
from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and other areas. The students took their places as leaders of their communities
as they graduated, went on to college, and returned to work in various professions. Until 1969, it was the only school in
Brewton that educated African-Americans. Two of the school’s directors were Rev. Andrew Branche and Kenneth B. Young.
In 1968, the faculty included Rheutelia Andrews, Amanda Bell, Helen Christian, James Christian, Marcia DeGraaf, Norma Ethridge,
Lucille Harvey, Doris Lewis, Bertha McCloud, C. & G. Meengs, Lizzie Moorer, Larry Robinson, Matilda Robinson, Florence
Rowser, Morgan Rowser, Mack Salter, Viola Sutton, Harris Wilhite, and John Wurpts.In 1997, it became known as the Southern Normal Academy of Alabama State University.
(Source: Reform Church in America)
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Brewton Alabama * US * 36426
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