Preserve the Record
Historical photographs, school programs, family archives, and oral histories help protect educational memory.
Enrollment is now open for the 2026–2027 school year. Classes begin September 7, 2026. Support OLSFMC →
OLSFMCOnline Schooling for Moorish ChildrenOur Educational Heritage
The work of educating Moorish children has deep roots.
OLSFMC honors earlier generations who created learning spaces grounded in identity, discipline, faith, nationality, and responsibility.
An Important Historical Photograph
A classroom of Moorish students in 1944.
This black-and-white photograph preserves a powerful image of Moorish students and instructors assembled in a Philadelphia classroom. The students are seated at desks. The Moorish Flag and the Banner Flag are posted in the classroom, identifying the students under one vine and fig tree as Moorish Americans.
The First Moorish School was founded by Sheik John Givens El, honored in the OLSFMC tradition as Prophet Noble Drew Ali Reincarnated. Julia Peggy Ford Bey, the grandmother of Prime Minister Durriyyah Bey, served as a Sunday School and elementary instructor for the Moorish Science Temple of America.
For OLSFMC, this photograph represents continuity. It reminds present-day families that organized education, cultural knowledge, dignified appearance, community instruction, and responsibility to future generations have long been central concerns.
We remember the classrooms that came before us as we build the classrooms needed for the present and the future.
Study With Care
Students learn to examine sources, dates, settings, people, language, and historical context.
Continue the Work
Virtual education becomes part of a longer tradition of creating purposeful spaces for Moorish children.
From 1944 to Today
The setting changes. The responsibility remains.
Today’s students use digital classrooms, shared documents, video instruction, and online research. The goal remains the cultivation of knowledgeable, disciplined, confident, and responsible young minds.