About The School

About Fannie L. Mullins School .......

 

Fannie L. Mullins School, located at 711 Martin Luther King Drive (formerly S. Hamilton Street) has a rich history here in Brookhaven and in the Alexander High School Era and Legacy. Initially, African-American students in grades 1 – 12 were housed at the Alexander Campus but in 1954, the doors to Fannie L. Mullins were opened to create an elementary school. Just as Alexander was named for Mr. A. A. Alexander, a dynamic educator and trailblazer in the African-American Community and the field of education here in Brookhaven, Fannie L. Mullins School, nestled in the quiet, picturesque community of Peco Village, was named for “Miss Fannie” the name affectionately given to Mrs. Mullins, another dynamic educator and trailblazer as well.

 

 

Miss Fannie Locwood Tate was a native of Ohio. Born in 1869, she came to Brookhaven in 1907 for an opportunity to teach and sometime thereafter, married Mr. John Mullins, a local man who worked as a brick mason.  Taken from a 1989 Sam Jones Interview, the son of Mayor Bob Jones is the following account of Mrs. Mullins:

 

 

          Every summer she went back to Cleveland on her vacations, and her friends there would make fun of her because she lived down in Mississippi, where she couldn’t vote or even register. So she got tired of it (and took action).  Once when she came back from Cleveland in the late 1920’s, she went to Mayor Bob Jones’ office and told him, “Judge Jones, I would like to register to vote.” And he said, “Fannie, that’s just fine. I’m so glad, come on, I’ll take you down to the city clerk’s office…”  

 

 

It is that courageousness coupled with her love of educating children that inspired “Miss Fannie” to teach for over 40 years, retiring from teaching in 1949 at 80 years young, a celebrated educator in the Brookhaven Colored School District!  Fannie L. Mullins School is named in honor of this great lady, first serving as the school to house grades 1 – 6 during segregation and taking some of the traffic from the Alexander High School.

 

 

Since then and the passing of integration, Fannie L. Mullins has served the Brookhaven School District as the 4th and 5th grades campus. Currently, it functions as the Alternative Center for students of varying grades throughout the district. In addition, Mullins is home to and numerous offices within the Brookhaven Public School District. They are:

 

16th Section Land

Adolescent Opportunity Program

School Attendance

Brookhaven High School GED Option Program

Brookhaven School District Food and Nutrition

Brookhaven School District Maintenance Department

Brookhaven School District Special Services

Brookhaven School District Technology Department

 

 

Though “Miss Fannie” has been gone since 1958, her legacy of spirit and determination lives on in all that walk Fannie L. Mullins School’s halls. We believe in the results of our students having been here!