Lunch and Learn: Friends of Hockessin Colored School #107

Presented By Dr. David J. Wilk, MAI, CRE
Prof. & Director of the RE Program at Temple Fox
and Interim CEO of HCS #107C

Built in 1920 by Pierre S. du Pont, this former School has been re-imagined into a Center for Diversity, Equity & Social Justice, inspired by its monumental history as home to one of the five cases that ultimately became Brown v. Board of Education.

This historic site, which is now a National Park Service Historic Site and a New Castle County Park, was transformed into a beautiful, light-filled, modern space by the non-profit Friends of Hockessin Colored School #107 Inc (“FOHCS”) and its development team.
The school has an incredible history, thanks to the courage of the Bulah Family, who engaged Attorney Louis Redding, the first and only African American attorney in Delaware in 1951, to take the Bulah v Gebhart case to Delaware’s Chancery Court. In 1952, Chancellor Collins J. Seitz ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine for school segregation was unconstitutional, and immediately ordered the desegregation of public schools in Delaware. Judge Seitz’s Chancery Court was upheld by the Delaware Supreme Court, and the Bulah case was later enfolded into Brown v Board of Education at the U.S. Supreme Court on May 17, 1954 in a 9-0 vote.

One hundred and one years later, on December 14, 2021, FOHCS and others who helped joined together with the Governor Carney and State/County leaders to break ground on giving this special building new life! A year later, on December 14, 2022, the ribbon was cut on the new center, highlighted by 10+ former students who attended the school in the 1930’s, ‘40’s and ‘50’s who were able to “walk through the door again!”
Dr. David Wilk, Professor and Director of the RE Program at Temple University Fox School of Business - and Interim CEO of HCS#107C - will share this extraordinary slice of Delaware history with us, promising a wonderful lunch program that just may include a former student and others who contributed to this restoration project!

Host or Publisher PA/NJ/DE CCIM Chapter