The Greyhounds Still Live...

Mr. George G. Cooper

Principal: Loris Training School (1941 to 1955) Principal: Finklea Consolidated High School (1955 to 1970)

  • Born: 1915  Died: 1991 The late Mr. George Cooper is the youngest of five children born to Calvin and Carrie Giles Cooper and the only boy. His mother was a schoolteacher. Cooper was cared for by his grandmother until he was six years old while his mother was in school. His father, a farmer-schoolteacher, used a large room in the family home to hold school for several years.  He attended Claflin College, Orangeburg, and after two years transferred to Savannah State College, in Savannah Georgia, where he graduated with a BS. He earned an MSEd from South Carolina State College (now South Carolina State University) in 1959.  In 1941 he began his first job as a principal and agriculture teacher at Loris Training School, where there were five teachers and a principal-teacher for grades one through eight.  Mr. Cooper's first year as principal of Finklea Consolidated High School was 1955-56. The school received Black high school students from Loris-Green Sea-Floyds area, and elementary students from the Green Sea-Bayboro area.  In July 1970, when all schools in the state were desegregated, Mr. Cooper was transferred to the Horry County District Office as supervisor of vocational and agricultural education, and he retired from education in July 1980. He served one four-year term on the Horry County Board of Education  Source: "A History of Finklea Consolidated High School and Loris Training School 2023 David C. Wilson

  • FROM HISTORIC SCHOOL TO COMMUNITY CENTER

The building that today serves as the Finklea Community Center originally opened in 1955 as Finklea Consolidated High School during South Carolina's equalization era, when public schools remained segregated.

The school became an important educational institution for Black students from Loris, Green Sea, Floyds, and surrounding communities. From 1956 through 1970, Finklea had 15 graduating classes, with the Class of 1970 becoming its final graduating class.

Former students ensured that Finklea's story would continue.  In 2004, members of the Finklea High/Loris Training Schools Alumni Association purchased the property, preserving the former school and establishing a place where the community could continue to gather, learn, and serve. That purchase marks the beginning of the Finklea Community Center's 22-year history, from 2004 to 2026.

  • A LEGACY OF COMMUNITY SERVICE

Over the years, the Finklea Community Center has supported programs and activities serving children, adults, families, alumni, and the surrounding community. Programs have included the Finklea Family After School Team (FFAST), adult education, academic enrichment, recreation, health initiatives, food and household-goods distribution, community gatherings, and other educational and outreach activities.

The Center's mission reflects the spirit that made Finklea Consolidated High School an important part of the community: education, opportunity, service, and bringing people together.

  • PRESERVING AN IMPORTANT AFRICAN AMERICAN STORY

Finklea's historical significance extends beyond the school building. The land associated with Finklea has connections to African American landownership after emancipation, including the Floyd/Gore family, whose family history traces to a formerly enslaved ancestor.

Research is continuing into this history and its connections with the House of Eight Gables, Olde Graham Plantation, Mitchell Swamp area, and the broader history of Finklea, Loris, and northwestern Horry County. The Alumni Association hopes to work with colleges, universities, historians, genealogists, alumni, descendants, and community members to document and preserve these stories before they are lost.

  • THE VISION FOR FINKLEA'S FUTURE

The long-term vision is to restore and develop Finklea as a modern community and cultural center where education, community service, historic preservation, genealogy, and heritage tourism come together.

Through a Heritage Tourism Development Plan, Finklea has the potential to help tell important stories about Black landownership, equalization-era education, African American community life, local families and genealogy, civil rights and desegregation, and the rural heritage of Horry County.

Finklea represents more than a historic building. It is a place where land, education, family, and community history intersect. The 22nd Anniversary Celebration will honor former students, educators, alumni, volunteers, community supporters, and generations of families whose lives are connected to Finklea.

SAVE FINKLEA...

Honoring Our Past... Building Our Future...

THE GREYHOUND STILL LIVES!