Peabody Academy (Troy, North Carolina)

Peabody Academy was established in 1880 in Troy, North Carolina, by the American Missionary Association (AMA) for the sole purpose of educating African Americans of Montgomery County, North Carolina. The Negro boarding school attracted students from all of the surrounding rural areas including towns now known as Biscoe, Mount Gilead, Candor, Pekin, Star, in addition to Troy, North Carolina. Peabody Academy was the only institution, at the time, that served the educational needs of African Americans. After U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Montgomery County Public School System began the process of integrating its schools under the threat of cutting off federal funds if they did not comply. Almost fourteen years after the Brown v. Board decision and nearly four years after the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, the Montgomery County School Board voted to close Peabody School on March 28, 1968. The Peabody Academy was then repurposed and reopened as an integrated Troy Middle School. Today, the buildings are occupied by the Troy Housing Authority with a few rooms on the bottom floor repurposed as the Peabody Museum.

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