LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Growing up in the 1950s in Gwinnett County if you were black, you most likely attended Hooper Renwick.
Entering the 8th grade, Dacula native, Ruby Neal was excited about the schools opening because she didn't have to walk to school anymore.
"At that time, it was the beginning of black people getting school buses, so I was in heaven," Neal said.
The school was often given hand me downs from the white schools in the county. Hooper Renwick alumna Joyce Moore, said often their books were torn, and the school didn't even have a gym.
During a time when most made black people were treated like they were less than, Moore said it was their teachers who made them feel valued.
"Our teachers did the best they could with what they had and they were also ambitious for us," Moore said.
The school shut down in 1968, once desegregation happened. It was used for multiple things by Gwinnett County Public Schools, even once re-opening as a school again.
The building shut down and was sold to the City of Lawrenceville. Originally, the city was going to tear down the school.
But Neal and other Alumni were not going to let that happen.
Just a few years ago, the city agreed to turn the old school into a museum and library.
For alumni like Neal, what she wants to see done is have the story of the Gwinnett County she was raised by told.
"We have got to let people know about Hooper Renwick and the blacks in Gwinnett County," Neal said.
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