Rev. Walter Allen Simpson Rice, was the Founder and first Principal of Manual Training Industrial School (Bordentown, NJ). The Bordentown School, officially titled the Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth, was a residential high school for African American students.
The school was founded in 1886 in the New Brunswick house of the Rev. Walter A. Rice, a minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and former slave from Laurens, SC. Born in 1845, Rice had fought as a volunteer with the Union Army during the American Civil War and went to New Jersey to get an education, after completing his military service.
When the school was first founded, it was known as “The Ironsides Normal School”. The school’s mission was to train African American students “in such industries that would enable them to become self-supporting. The grounds had its own farm, cattle, and orchards. The highly selective school initially offered its 500 to 600 students an education in the Classics and Latin as part of its overall curriculum, which earned accolades from both W.E.B DuBois and Booker T. Washington. Among notable lecturers at the school were Albert Einstein and Paul Roberson. During the Great Depression, graduates were better able than many to find jobs using the skills they had learned at the school.
The Rice Legacy
There are several descendants of Walter A. S. Rice who are still living in New Jersey and several other states. Dr. Mildred Rice Jordan, Emerita Rider University, is a proud pioneer in promoting the history of the Manual Training Industrial School and she helps in keeping its history and legacy alive by speaking at several places including churches, libraries, at civic community centers and organizations like the Bordentown Historical Society.
Retired, Dr. Rice spends much of her time making presentations and researching the history of the Bordentown school which was founded by her grandfather, Rev. Walter Allen Simpson Rice. She has authored many articles on race, social class and gender equality. Her first book, Reclaiming African-American Students Legacies, Lessons and Prescriptions: The Bordentown School Model, gives a wealth of knowledge on the school and its teaching and is full of actual photos and artifacts from the school’s rich history. Several scholars, historians and others have cited her book as a reference. The book will be on display in the exhibit hall and is available on Amazon.
Susan Rice, American Diplomat, Author, and former U.S Ambassador and National Security Advisor is also a descendant of Walter Allen Simpson Rice and she has brought attention to the school when she talked about her lineage and connection to MTIS when she was being sworn in under the Biden administration.
The MTIS school legacy lives on through its alumni and the Rice family and the site of the school is protected as a Registered Historic Landmark. Dedications and memorials have been erected at the front of the campus entrance and were pioneered by former alumni and members of the Rice family.
A New Updated Purpose
The state had been using the Hayes building on the MTIS campus as The Juvenile Medium Security Facility. In July 2024 the State of New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission had a press conference where they announced that a planning committee has been set up to discuss future use of the school grounds with a focus on reopening with a new purpose more aligned with the founders vision to give colored youth of New Jersey hope and a future.
The Rice family hopes with support to create a website that will focus on the rich history of the MTIS school and to start a scholarship fund that will help aid in educational costs for future college students. Dr. Mildred Rice Jordan, Emerita Rider University is a proud supporter of education for all. Meet her at Itiah Angels for Learning 2026 gala “ A roaring Night of Giving” Gatsby Style!
By Winnie Wade
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