A widowed teacher and missionary from Boston, Ms. Almira Steele founded The Steele Home for Needy Colored Children in April 1884 on Magnolia and Strait Street (now Palmetto Street) in the old Fort Wood Neighborhood, one block from Erlanger Hospital. The Steele Home welcomed all abandoned and neglected children with open arms, regardless of their race, health, age, or social status. At that time, it was the only orphanage for African American children in Chattanooga after Reconstruction. In the following four decades, hundreds upon hundreds of infants, children, and adolescents, rejected by other orphanages, found The Steele Home.
There was much controversy surrounding the Steele Home housing orphaned African American children with Caucasian children.
In November 1885, the home was burned to the ground by arsonists who were appalled by Steele’s charity towards African American children. Steele, 7 aids, and 54 children escaped with their lives, but the children were left homeless once again. She then used her own money, support from friends and family in the North, local African American pastors and churches and the Ochs family in Chattanooga, built a second, larger orphanage on the same site.
The Steele Home would come to support and educate more than 1,600 children in its 41 years of existence. Steele died in 1925 at the age of 83 without a penny to her name. The building which housed the Steele Home was eventually demolished.
The Cross Street Seventh-day Adventist Church School:
Former residents of the Steele Home for Needy Colored Children, along with several new families, established the first African American Seventh-day Adventist Church in Chattanooga on Cross Street. Along with establishing the first church, they also started the first and only African American SDA church school in Chattanooga in the basement of the church building. The teachers who taught on Cross Street were Mrs. Edith Jaro, Mrs. Emma Scott and Mrs. Billie Rowe. Students included, Dr. E.E. and W. J. Cleveland, Betty and Mary Bell Drakes, Franklin Hill Jr. (who was a resident in the Steele Home), Violet Holder Robinson, Edna Mae and Clarice Williams.
East Eighth Street Seventh-day Adventist Church School:
After 22 years, the Cross Street Seventh-day Adventist Church members built a new church at 1001 East Eighth Street with two rooms for a school in the rear. During this time church membership and school enrollment continued to grow. Many of the children of the community were students of the school. Tuition at the time was $0.50 per week. Some of the teachers included Mrs. Emma Scott, who began at the Cross St. location, Mrs. Lawrence Britton, Mr. James Britton, Mrs. Delilah Custard, Mrs. Ruth Jenkins, Mrs. Ruby Lowery, Mrs. Jacobe, Mrs. Davis, and Mrs. Esma Woods. The student body included Edward Mattox, Elder Harold E. Cleveland, Frederick Johnson, Billie Hill, Mrs. Teresa Mattox Powell, Mrs. Iris Smith Jackson (who later taught at the Avondale SDA School), Miss Iris Starks (Stigall), Floyd Arnold, Clabie Arnold, Blanche Spence (Brown), Alfred Jones and Betty Jackson (Williams).
The Orchard Knob Avenue and Wilson Street (House):
In 1962 Hortense Johnson saw the condition of the school facilities at the East Eighth Street location which were limited in space and filled to capacity. With the help of Elder W. Watkins, Billy Charles Green and others, they pursued their vision of a better building for the school. In 1967 the church purchased a lot on the corner of N. Orchard Knob Avenue and Wilson Street, where there was also a large house. They converted the house into a school, while continuing their work on building a school on the property. The teaching staff included, Mrs. Esma Woods, Mrs. Ruth Jenkins, Mrs. Mary Patton, Mrs. Graycye Williams, Mrs. Lucy Barley, Mrs. Mildred Logan, Miss Deloris Harris, and Oliver Wilson.
The Orchard Knob Avenue (Current Building):
In April 1977, the church broke ground for the school building under the leadership of Dr. P. E. Vincent. Pastor Vincent, along with the talent and skill of Pastor William Freeman, the contractor, and the members of the Orchard Park Seventh-day Adventist Church opened the Avondale Seventh-day Adventist School and Day Care on September 7, 1977. The building was valued at $300,000 but Pastor Vincent planned to build it for $200,000. It actually cost $175,000, including the furnishings and another lot for additional play and parking area. They were debt free only eighteen months after opening!
Since 1977, Avondale Seventh-day Adventist School has educated more than 2,500 students in grades K–8. As we celebrate 100 years of excellence in Christian education, we are looking forward to growing our presence in the community. We have launched a remodeling project, a STEM curriculum, a sports program, music program and a foreign language program.
While we have come a long way in 100 years, we still have much more to accomplish. Our current vision is to further enhance our STEM program and build a gymnasium and increase scholarships to urban students. We would like to extend our ministry to include a day care center and grades 9–12 so that we can continue to take “Christ to the Community through the Classroom.”