It closed after Mallory's death in 1977, unable to operate with a declining black population in the area and competition with publicly funded schools.

Saints Industrial and Literary School was founded in 1918 as a ministry of St. Paul's Church of God in Christ, to provide high-quality education to black students in a segregated state.

Parents from a wide area sent their children to Saints Academy, including families who had moved to northern cities such as St. Louis, Missouri.

After Mallory's retirement and death, followers tried to keep the school going, but population in the Delta had declined as many families moved north or to large cities.

In the course of the case, twenty-four schools were deposed and categorized according to the following criteria:[2] The campus was originally 400 acres (160 ha) in Lexington, Mississippi.