The Winn Training School was established in 1920 in Dodson, Louisiana, with assistance from the Rosenwald Fund, serving as a foundational educational institution for African American youth in the parish.
• Origins & Early Years: Prior to its formal establishment,
education for African American youth in Winn Parish was organized
through local churches, home schools, and early community setups
like Friendship Baptist and Coleman College.
• Dodson Rosenwald
School (1920): The Winn Training School first opened in Dodson in
1920 via the Rosenwald program.
• Relocation to Winnfield (1929):
The school relocated to Winnfield in 1929 after the community raised
$500.
• Expansion (1933–1943): The facility expanded further
using repurposed bricks from a white high school.
• Transition to
Pinecrest High School: The institution evolved over the decades,
leading to the construction of Pinecrest High School in 1955 under
principal D.C. Douglas, which later served hundreds of students
through the 1960s before parish-wide school integration in 1970.
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
From: A
1926 Edition of Winn Parish Enterprise or Winnfield News-American
M. J. Rodgers, principal
Mrs. Zelma Frazer
Miss Ida Love
Crutcher
Miss Ruby Shelton
Miss Adah Carroll
Miss Jenora
Crutcher
G. H. Corry
Miss Jewel Deloney
Mrs. Helen
McCartney
Miss Zelma Mills
Mrs. H. C. Eagles
Miss Ethel
Kelly
Miss Lola Horn
Miss Olive Colwell
Miss Pearl Slawson
Mrs. L. F. Morrison
Miss Irene Brewer
Mrs. R. E. Harrell
Mrs. C. R. Mixon
Miss Annie Belle Swanson
Mrs. G. A. Payne
Mrs. V. L. Brumfield
Miss Eva Horn
Miss Dora Coleman
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted
Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
Murphy Rogers, Principal
High School:
Birdie Nelson
J. A. Horton
Zelma Frazer
H. S. Bankston
Ada Carrol
Inez Odom
J. M.
Breeden
Ruby Shelton
Mrs. J. R. McCartney, Jr.
Grammar School:
Mrs. L. F. Morrison
Mrs. G. A. Payne
Mrs. C. R. Mixon
Dora Coleman
Olive Caldwell
Mrs. S. L.
Garrett
Anna Belle Swanson
Ethel Kelly
Pearl Slawson
Mrs. Gilmer Freeze
Elva Horn
Lola Horn
Mrs. Riffie Harrell
Mrs. H. C. Eagles
Mrs. Houston Gates
Mrs. W. H. Peters
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted
Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
From: April 24, 1931 Winnfield
News-American OR Winn Parish Enterprise
Jeroline Carroll
George Clark
Mary Louise Condi
Ola Mae Dias
Olan Dias
Rosa Mae Gilly
Ardelia Henson
Joseph Jenkins
Amy Needa
Jones
Cloran Kelly
Al Pearl McKemmey
Helen Lee Norsworthy
Villie B. Overton
Bulah Turpin
Z. E. Bell, Principal
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
From:
April 14, 1932 Winn Parish Enterprise
Gillie, Joseph
Henry, Vivian
Hobdy, Rosa Lee
Johnson, Willie
Johnson,
Isaac
McCarty, Douglas
McKinney, Willie
Roberson, Booker T.
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
From:
April 14, 1933 Winnfield News-American
Z. E. Bell,
Principal
Richie Lee Blackwood
Edward Brown
Edgar Johnnie
Brown
Mildred Condie
Lee Davenport
Bernie Lee Hayes
Vivien Henry
J. W. Roberson
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
Lillie Porter Dwellingham, Colfax
Mary Johnson, Winnfield
(Valedictorian)
Katie Lee Martin, Winnfield
Ercell Norsworthy,
Winnfield (Salutatorian)
Cleo Walker, Winnfield
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted
Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
From:
May 16, 1935 Winn Parish Enterprise
1935 Winn Parish
Training School Senior Class
Carroll, Jerolene M.
Gillie, Rosa
Mae
Henry, Edward P.
Henry, Nelsie
Jenkins, Joseph Carlton
Jones, Amy Needer
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
From: May 13, 1937 Winn Parish Enterprise
1937 Winn Parish Training School Senior Class (First Four Year
Graduating Class)
Amos, Leo
Brown, Doris
Dias, Emma
Dodson, Lessie
Graham, Loice
Smith, Ella Bell
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted
Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
From: May 8, 1941 Winn Parish
Enterprise
Gladys Bell
D. Arneda Van Blackwood
Doretha V. Lewis
Ollie Dell Reliford
John Mack Dudley
Henry
Burnel Johnson
James Belvard King
Amos James Mills
Collie
J. Nicholson
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
From: May
13, 1943 Winn Parish Enterprise
Cassey, Jessie Mae
Copeland, Jessie Barbara
Dias, Nona Alphonsae
Hobdy, Genette
Jiner, Pazella Joaan
Johnson, Jessie Mae
King, Ida Vell
Lawson, Maxine Lenour
Mathis, Ventrella
McKinney, Thelma
Louise
Moss, Doretha
Nash, James Clarence Jr.
Peats, Vergie
Lee
Pinkney, Eliza Mae
Smith, Veoria
Steward, John Jr.
Submitted by Greggory E. Davie
From:
Winnfield News-American, a 1946 issue
Jessie Lee Gibbs
O. W. Graham
Bernadine D. Hamilton
Annie Lee Jacobs
Marlvin
Jenkins
Gloria Lee Johnson
Rosa B. Lewis
J. C. Mathes
Margaret Mathes
Louis Preston Moore
Cora Riser
Ninetta
Riser
Venita Riser
Palestine Robinson
Melvin Ray Rushing
Annie Bell Williams
Ophelia Wyatt
Contributed by Greggory E. Davies
36
Graduate From Winnfield Colored Training School (from the May 27,
1948 Winn Parish Enterprise)
Thirty-six members of the
Winn Parish colored Training School senior class received their
diplomas at commencement exercises in the school auditorium on
Wednesday night, May 26.
The Baccalaureate sermon was delivered by the Rev. M. M. Flynn of Shreveport at the Morning Star Baptist Church at 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon, May 23.
Class colors were blue and gold. The class flower was yellow carnations. Class motto was "The road to success is open, we must journey on."
Members of the graduating class were: Prentis Bradford, Ora Bennie Bradley, L. L. Brown, Jr., Beulah E. Carpenter, Isaac Calhoun, Jr., Willie Myrtle Cunningham, Melvia D. DeLoach, Betty Jean Duncan, melvia Lynn Frazier, Lela Mae Foster, R. C. Gibson, Gladys Gibson, Purnell Gistand, Percy Gilbest, Jr., Nova Lee Hampton, Millard Hollingsworth, Karev Hollingsworth, Willie Lee Hollingsworth, Gladys Mae Hunter, Earlean Jackson, Ernestine Jackson, Loyal L. Jewitt, Ezell King, Joenathon Lewis, Willie Ray Mills, Nathon Pearrie, Ruth Ann Rainwater, Cleveland Riser, Jr., Olevia B. Riser, Lucille Singleton, Everlean Turner, Elmo Williams, Dorothy Mae Wilson, Mamie Lee White, and James Woodard, Jr.
(The Winn Parish Colored Training School was later renamed Pinecrest High School, and was closed in 1970.
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
From: May 26, 1950 Winnfield News American
Willie Calhoun
James B. DeLoach
Vergie Edwards
Jack S.
Farley
Eura Lee Gibson
Lorene Gibson
Theresa Graham
Norissa Hampton
Melvin Hobdy
James C. Jackson
Otis
Jefferson
Ruth Jones
Derutha Layton
Autra Mae Mallory
Juanita McCartney
Delores Del Moss
Corinne Rufus
Beulah Sly
John Louis Shelton
Winn Parish Training School Staff
James A.
Gaulden, principal
Clyde O. Wilson
Mildred C. Farley
Jesse
L. Colquit
Donald Newton
Roy T. Washington
Addison S. Hobbs
Willie E. Lewis
Mariah H. Lewis
Gladys Goff
Zula M. Pearrie
Rosa B. Alford
Ina Mae Fobbs
Helen Gaulden
B. Rose Hamilton
Cuevator Washington
Almenia W. Himes
Eula Mae Jones
Geraldine Anderson
Doris N. Gaulden
Oscar Williams
Perkie
L. Frazier
Elnora Brownfield
1950 Winnfield Black Faculties
- Photo
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
From: Winn Parish Enterprise or Winnfield
News-American, undated
Alexander, Ruthie May
Alexander,
Lucy Mae
Davis, Carrie Rose
Davis, Theressa L.
DeLoach,
Carrie Bell
Ford, Sammie Lee
Hobdy, Myrtle Ruth
Hobdy, Osie
W.
Hollingsworth, Mildred
Howard, Armenda
Mallory, Annie
Mae
Morgan, Dorothy
Pimpleton, Erslee
Rufus, Lorene
Walker, Billy J.
West, Earnestine
Wright, Clifford
Winn Training School (Pinecrest)1951 All State Football Players
The football team won back-to-back state championships in 1950 and
1951.
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies
From:
April 25, 1952 Winnfield News-American
John Alexander
Katherine Alexander
Willie Bowie
Burda Lue Bradley
William
Copeland
Martha Ray Davis
Urma Lein Dunn
Gladys Davenport
Mary Nell Gibbs
Gwendolyn Hobdy
Lula D. Hobdy
Luther Hobdy
O. W. Hobdy
Gladys Jackson
Alton Johnson
Josephine Johnson
Mary Helen Jones
C. W. King
Annie Mallory
Rosemary Prescott
Ivory Smith
Florena Washington
Coordinator: Vacant
State Coordinator: Marsha Holley
If you have questions or problems with this site, email Marsha Holley, State Coordinator.
