Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In this episode of Adventures Into History, we are in Calhoun, Georgia, to uncover a chapter of Black history that has gone almost entirely unacknowledged.
I’m joined by descendants of people who were once enslaved by the Cherokee Nation and, later on the Peters Plantation. Their story doesn't end with being enslaved, it leads us to the creation of a thriving Black community that built its own institutions, its own school, and its own legacy.
Our first stop is the site of the old Rosenwald School, once a beacon of possibility and chance for education for Black children during segregation. By the 1950's the school grew into Stephens High School, the only all-Black high school in Gordon County. From these classrooms came state champions in basketball, track, and girls’ basketball - achievements that were never repeated after integration scattered students across the county and cost many Black teachers their jobs.
Today the original Rosenwald building is gone, torn down after integration in 1967. The high school building still stands, but only as a municipal facility, with no marker acknowledging what it once meant to this community.
We also visit what remains of the old Stephens High School gym. For years after integration, the Black community was allowed to use it - until the keys were taken back and the building was converted into a police training range. Now it sits abandoned and used for storage, and the Gordon County Civic Club is fighting to reclaim it and turn it into a museum honoring the people who rose from enslavement to become athletes, veterans, educators, leaders, and more.
This is the story of a community that built something incredible out of almost nothing, and the struggle today to make sure their history is not erased. From the legacy of those enslaved by the Cherokee Nation to the triumphs of Stephens High School, this is a journey into a history that deserves to be told.
This work is made possible by viewers like you — thank you.
Support the Work
Tip Jar: paypal.me/rwrightphotography
More Adventures
Watch Adventures Into Preservation: youtube.com/@TheRandomAdventuresChannel
Mailing Address
Sidestep Adventures
PO BOX 206
Waverly Hall, Georgia 31831
In this episode of Adventures Into History, we are in Calhoun, Georgia, to uncover a chapter of Black history that has gone almost entirely unacknowledged.
I’m joined by descendants of people who were once enslaved by the Cherokee Nation and, later on the Peters Plantation. Their story doesn't end with being enslaved, it leads us to the creation of a thriving Black community that built its own institutions, its own school, and its own legacy.
Our first stop is the site of the old Rosenwald School, once a beacon of possibility and chance for education for Black children during segregation. By the 1950's the school grew into Stephens High School, the only all-Black high school in Gordon County. From these classrooms came state champions in basketball, track, and girls’ basketball - achievements that were never repeated after integration scattered students across the county and cost many Black teachers their jobs.
Today the original Rosenwald building is gone, torn down after integration in 1967. The high school building still stands, but only as a municipal facility, with no marker acknowledging what it once meant to this community.
We also visit what remains of the old Stephens High School gym. For years after integration, the Black community was allowed to use it - until the keys were taken back and the building was converted into a police training range. Now it sits abandoned and used for storage, and the Gordon County Civic Club is fighting to reclaim it and turn it into a museum honoring the people who rose from enslavement to become athletes, veterans, educators, leaders, and more.
This is the story of a community that built something incredible out of almost nothing, and the struggle today to make sure their history is not erased. From the legacy of those enslaved by the Cherokee Nation to the triumphs of Stephens High School, this is a journey into a history that deserves to be told.
This work is made possible by viewers like you — thank you.
Support the Work
Tip Jar: paypal.me/rwrightphotography
More Adventures
Watch Adventures Into Preservation: youtube.com/@TheRandomAdventuresChannel
Mailing Address
Sidestep Adventures
PO BOX 206
Waverly Hall, Georgia 31831
