Schools in African American History
Dunbar High School 1301 New Jersey Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-673-7233 |
Dunbar High School, chartered in November of 1870, was one of two public high schools built specifically for black students in Washington, DC. The other, Armstrong Manual Training School was built on the educational principles of Booker T. Washington. Dunbar was also the first high school for African American students in the nation. Notables who graduated from the school include: Sterling Brown, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Charles R. Drew, Charles Hamilton Houston, Robert H. Terrell, Senator Eleanor Holmes Norton, Senator Edward Brooke and Robert C. Weaver. Faculty members included Anna Julia Cooper, Kelly Miller, Mary Church Terrell, and Dr. Carter G. Woodson.
PICTURED: Dunbar High School, NW, Wa shington, DC.
SUBMITTED: December 14, 2008. Picture taken Decemer 14, 2008.
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Greenville County Training School Ruffin Street Emporia, Virginia 23847 |
Greenville County Training School was the only high school for Blacks in Emporia, VA. It was built with money from the Rosenwald Fund. Named after Julius Rosenwald, part owner and leader of the Sears and Roebuck Company, the Rosenwald Fund was designed to promote the well being of mankind. Though he supported the idea of separate but equal, Rosenwald gave millions to support the education of African Americans by financing the construction of schools and libraries throughout rural areas of the south. These schools became known as Rosenwald Schools. Many of them are still standing, some have been rehabilitated, others are in varying degrees of dilapidation.
PICTURED: Greenville County Training School, Emporia, VA.
SUBMITTED: December 14, 2008. Pictures taken December 12, 2008.
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Little Rock Central High School 2120 Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive Little Rock, AR 72202
501-374-1957 |
On September 3, 1957, nine black students Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Earnest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Partillio, Gloria Ray, Terrance Roberts, Jefferson Thomas and Carlotta Walls were escorted by Little Rock Police undetected in the side door of Little Rock Central High School. In front of the school stood an angry mob of approximately 1000 white people who were against desegregation. When the mob discovered that the nine students had entered the school, their aggression increased and the students were escorted out of the school.
On September 24, the Mayor of Little Rock, Woodrow Mann sent a telegram to President Dwight D. Eisenhower requesting that he send federal troops to Little Rock. The president sent troops and federalized the entire Arkansas National Guard taking its authority away from Orval Faubus the Governor of Arkansas.
On September 25, 1957, the nine black students entered Little Rock Central High School under the security of 1000 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army.
PICTURES: Top: Little Rock Central High School, 2120 Daisy Bates Drive, Little Rock, AR 72202, Visitor Center 501-374-1957. Bottom L: Commemorative Coin Front. Bottom R: Commemorative Coin Back. Video: Pro-Segregation Riots Draw Federal Troops.
SUBMITTED: April 5, 2008. Pictures taken December 27, 2005.
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Robert R. Moton High School/Museum 900 Griffin Boulevard P.O. Box 908 Farmville, VA 23901 434-315-8775 |
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The following is written on the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail sign in front of the Moton Museum: On this site of the former Robert R. Moton High School, the actions of some brave African-American students to achieve equal educational opportunities eventually lead to the end of legal segregation in American public schools. Moton was built to house 180 black students. On April 23, 1951, it held 450 instead, with some classes conducted in ‘Tar Paper Shacks,’ resulting in student walkout protesting the unequal facilities, course offerings and buses. Within weeks the students sought legal redress of their grievances. The NAACP agreed to support a suit for school integration, believing that goal to be in the best interest of the community. The subsequent case Davis et al.v. County School Board of Prince Edward, was decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1954 in its landmark Brown v. Board decision, which stated that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. A second Brown Decision in 1955 mandated that integration be achieved “with all deliberate speed. Rather than integrate its public schools, Prince Edward County withheld funds for all public education. As a result, all of the county’s public schools were closed from 1959 until 1964, when the Supreme Court ruled in Griffin v. Prince Edward County that localities must fund and operate public schools. Today, Prince Edward’s fully integrated public schools bear the legacy of a fight for civil rights in education that began here with a courageous, non-violent act by a group of high school students and resulted in three historic United States Supreme Court rulings. In 1998 the site was designated a National Historic Landmark. In 2001 it formally opened as a museum.
PICTURES: Top: Robert R. Moton School/Museum. Second Row: Moton High School c.1953. The tar paper buildings added to expand the capacity of the school can be seen at the left and the right. Third Row L: Students arrive for school at tar paper building, c.1953. Third Row R: Moton High School student's sign demonstrating their determination to get a new school building. The students walked out of their classes April 23, 1951, beginning a two weeks strike. Fourth Row L: Class in tar paper building, c.1953. Fouth Row R: Rev. L. Francis Griffin Sr. led the Moton High School students in their protest against unequal facilities, course offerings and buses. Picture taken October 25, 2008. Bottom L: Stone marker in front of the museum dedicated to the students of Moten High School. Bottom R: The students of Moton High School as pictured on stone maker in front of the museum. All of the pictures except for those of Robert Moton School and Museum are pictures taken of sections of the memorials located on the grounds.
SUBMITTED: December 26, 2008. Pictures taken of marker on October 25, 2008.
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Pictures taken and submitted by Percy White unless otherwise indicated. African American History, African American Culture, African American Churches, African American Cemeteries, African American Schools, Places of Interest in African American History |