RUCKER HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BLACK 1896-1927 was built on the old Nashville Highway. It was on John Sneed property on a hill southeast of the present Sam Davis Road and near Rocky Fork Road. There is no longer a
road up to the site of the school.
The school was a small frame building. Enrollment for the one-teacher school at times reached 110 students.
The seats were long benches, some propped up by rocks. A stove was in the middle of the floor and coal was stored at one end. The playground was rocky and wooded.
There was no well; water was brought from a neighbor’s house.
Known teachers were: Robert Levi Perry of Smyrna; Lizzie Smith of Smyrna in 1896; Linnie Hibbit, LaVergne; Miss Gaither Shelton, Murfreesboro; Rev. J. K. Childress, Murfreesboro; Rev. Newsom, Murfreesboro, and Mrs. Glass.
The school program was traditional. In 1922, Miss Picola Smith, as Jeanes supervisor, organized a sewing class for the larger girls. She visited once every six weeks, but the regular teacher conducted the class weekly.
At the end of the year, the best work was exhibited at the Field Day Activities at the high school in Murfreesboro. RUCKER HILL won many blue ribbons.
RUCKER HILL was replaced by SMYRNA ROSENWALD SCHOOL and the one-room building was torn down.
SOURCES: Interview, March 13, 1983, with William Peebles. “Rosenwald Has Had Rich, Varied Background,” The Daily News Journal, Nov. 13, 1963, p. 24. *Queen E. Washington, a student. *N.D. Overall, Superintendent,
“Manual and Course of Study for the Public Schools of Rutherford Co., Tenn.” 1896. A copy was submitted by *Bealer Smotherman, a nephew.