Alumni of Huntsville’s first public school for African-American students were joined by Mayor Tommy Battle and City Council-members Devyn Keith and John Meredith for an unveiling of four bronze statues at William Hooper Councill Memorial Park.

“Today is an opportunity to look back, constructively, at the challenges that our community overcame, and the good that has come from it,” said Council-member Meredith.

The Councill School, named after University of Alabama A&M founder William Hooper Councill, was the first public school in the city for African-American children and youths. It operated from 1867 until it was shut down following desegregation in 1966.

“This isn’t just Black history, but Huntsville history,” Council-member Keith made a point to establish.

The William Hooper Councill Memorial Park, on St. Clair Avenue, where the school once stood was opened in December of 2020 with the unveiling of Councill’s statue. However, like any school, it remained incomplete without the students.

One of the new statues unveiled at Councill Memorial Park this week by artist Dan Burch titled “The Schoolgirl”

The four statues, sculpted by local artist Dan Burch, who also created the statue of Councill, represent the student body that gained life skills and education through high school at the school. Two statues, set as a pair collectively known as “The Young Schoolchildren”, depict a young girl leading a small boy, both dressed for school. “The Schoolgirl” depicts an older girl of twelve or thirteen years in age, carrying a book in her hand. Finally, “The Letterman” depicts a teenage boy, grown strong and proud through the athleticism implied by the letterman jacket he wears, his head held high as he stands with casual ease.

As a park, the now-complete Councill Memorial Park is an aesthetic triumph. While the plaza is not especially large, it is hewn with bricks in earthy browns and tans which blend pleasingly with grass and trees of the park. Commemorative plaques and photographs inform visitors of the history of the site and school, the pathway upon which the new statues stand leading visitors through a threshold inscribed with the park’s name, evoking the feeling of a young child entering a school for the first time. Beyond the threshold, the statue of William Hooper Councill stands upon a plinth, surrounded by bricks inscribed with the names of alumni of the school.

After the formal ceremony concluded, dozens of alumni visited that area of the park in particular, searching for the names of classmates and friends.

“It’s things like this, moments like this, that really make me love Huntsville,” remarked Councilmember Keith.

For more information, please visit www.huntsvilleal.gov.