Oakland Community
Located in northern Knox County, just outside of Fountain City, the Oakland Community started to take shape not long after the US Civil War as newly emancipated families began the forming new communities. Black people from places such as Upstate South Carolina, Knox and Union Counties of Tennessee joined together to build two churches; Foster Chapel and Oakland AME Zion and an elementary school to serve the needs of their children. Fraternal organizations such as The Band of Mercy, The United Brotherhood of Friendship and the Sisters of the Mysterious Ten and the Free Masons provided additional social and philanthropic activities. Small businesses such as stores and boarding houses were established as well as four final resting places; Mysterious Ten, Band of Mercy, Oakland AME Zion and Foster cemeteries. In collaboration with Pat Harris, Foster Chapel Historian, and descendants, we've managed to compile a significant amount of research and information on this important community.
Oakland Elementary School
1891 is the earliest documentation we know of Oakland (Colored) Elementary School being in operation. Oral histories suggest that educational efforts in the community may have occurred in peoples' homes in the 1870's.
Timeline of Oakland Educators & Key Events:
1895 to 1897 - Mitchell F. Burke
1898 - J.S. Scott
1899 - Mitchell F. Burke
1900 to 1904: Granville Stanley Hurd
1905 - School was discontinued due to low enrollment
1906 - Mary May Burks Daniel
1908 - School was formally re-established
1908 - Matilda Holland
1909 - Mary May Burks Daniel
1920 - Selma Flack
1923 - Bessie Jackson
1924 to 1928 - Willie Thompson
1930 - Carry Lou Hardy
1936 - School was rebuilt by the Works Progress Administration
1935 to 1939 - Brazil Helen Seguines Hunt
1935 to1954 - Talitha Catherine Dennis
1941 - Lillian Armstrong
1965 - School was closed due to intergration
Present Day - Building a community center managed by Knox County
Mysterious Ten Cemetery
In 2025, Black in Appalachia took on the task of cleaning up and restoring Oakland's Mysterious Ten Cemetery. This historic burial site is the final resting place of many poor and working class residents who lived in the Knoxville neighborhood once known as The Bottom. The Sisters of the Mysterious Ten were the women's auxiliary of The United Brotherhood of Friendship, a fraternal organization founded before the US Civil War by enslaved and Free African Americans. After Emancipation, this fraternal entity would see robust expansion and membership totaling in the tens of thousands. The Sisters of the Mysterious Ten provided philanthropic and charity support for Black families post-Reconstruction that included burial assistance for it's members.
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The stories contained in the cemetery include that of Reverend Shepherd J. Jordan, who assumed pastoral duties at Oakland's Foster Chapel in 1935. There, he oversaw the installation of a new brick edifice around the wooden frame church. There's also Mr. Patrick Henry Venable, a Virginia-born brick mason that was reportedly the first member of the Bricklayers Union. He arrived in Knox County in 1885 and contributed his hands to an unknown number of buildings in the area during his 40 year career.
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The on-going work of this project includes clearing out brush and downed trees, restoration of fallen tombstones, researching the narratives of those buried and the installation of signage and site interpretation. If interested in volunteering, email us at info[at]blackinappalachia.org
