As students and faculty prepare to move into a new state-of-the-art building, more than a century of history follows them. Jordan Michael Anderson. The school is located in Dayton, Ohio, and serves approximately 550 students. Prominent graduates from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School include celebrities, politicians, business people, athletes and more. STEWARTI'm so glad that the history of the school is physically built into the building so that it cannot be lost. I went to the Sumner Archives and I looked at every yearbook since 1923 to see, what's going on here? Have someone to add? First, we start writing the story instantly, so she starting writing letters instantly. Before you had even seen the place, what was the image of Dunbar that existed in your mind? What did that experience mean to you? People came from all over and said, please just take my one daughter. Share your memories by posting photos or stories, or find out about your next class reunion! JANIEI graduated from Dunbar in '69 and went on to have the great honor to work at the White House. Praise we sing to thee, dear Dunbar, Love for the white and blue. STEWARTAnd also I want to say that all the people who went and became -- who aren't household names, who are just the strong backbone of the middle class, and especially all the teachers that came out of Dunbar. He was -- I mean, my dad was a very lovely affable, lovely man, elegant man, but he was very angry about it as a young man that he was not able to go to school wherever he wanted to go near where he lived, and he became a young protestor protesting against various STEWART[unintelligible] hiring practices. Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues (born January 9, 1965) is a retired American basketball player. It may have happened in social clubs. It may happen with families, people's personal issues. Dunbar opened in 1929 and was named for Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), the first African-American poet to gain worldwide recognition. That event will take place at 7:00 p.m. And I came to see that on the micro scale of my parents, and then the macro scale of all of Dunbar graduates who have gone forward and done so well. The thing that they did with us is that they said to us over and over and over again, you are exceptional. List below includes Tupac Shakur, Sam Cassell and more graduates. We also believe that these two forces will serve as the bridge to unite all of Dunbars alumni regardless of decade and foster a new sense of great pride in our Alma Mater. What were your impressions when you first walked in? CAMPBELLAnd I remember he was telling -- he had told me about A. Phillip Randolph who was a school mate of his, and said that they use to call him the human dictionary. It is also known to be America's first public high school for African-Americans. Register to let other graduates of Dunbar High School find and contact you. NNAMDIWell, speaking of your parents, one of the people who was trekking across town to get to Dunbar was your dad, Joe Stewart. Naval Academy to reach the rank of admiral, and Edward Brooke, the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the U.S. Senate. And I could write about her. It's just very loud so you would see teachers who had kind of made makeshift barriers, sound barriers. She's a journalist. I'm working NNAMDIIt sounds like you took it literally, Janie. You can call us at 800-433-8850. And then they went back into the D.C. school system and populated it with these unbelievably dedicated and excellent teachers. Dunbar at the time was based on talent. From what I read about Dunbar, my understanding is that Dunbar actually started in the basement of 15th Street Presbyterian Church at 15th and R. JACKAnd yes -- the 15 Street Presbyterian Church. She is the author of "First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America's First Black Public High School." NNAMDIThat's why she choose it because she was an admirer of Paul Laurence Dunbar. I have great respect for teachers. She is the author of "First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America's First Black Public High School." STEWARTAnd the thing I think that is the best thing is that the graduates of Dunbar were excellent so that they couldn't be denied when they went out into an inhospitable world. And I think it's so important -- you can't relive the past -- you cannot recreate Dunbar, but you can be inspired by its history, the fight for it, the fight for it to stay being a good school, the excellence and the extraordinary achievements of its graduates. And he had a real problem with it. I update it with stories from Dunbar graduates, and I also established a scholarship I want to say called the First Class Scholarship with the United Negro College Fund. MS. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTONOur teachers consisted of a very unusual group of people. . One of the things I've said to people is my parents both passed away during the writing of this book. And the mayor grew up very humble, one-bedroom apartment. A Timeline Of How Biggie And Tupac's Friendship Turned Into An Infamous Feud, The Greatest Singers of the Past 30 Years, The Best NBA Players With No Championship Rings, The Greatest Shooting Guards in NBA History. KEITHHello, everyone. I took my book advance in because I wanted to see the next great Dunbar graduate who needed a little bit of cash go on and do something. Hello, Kojo. By the time he released his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, he had. STEWARTThere was no paper bag taped to the door and you couldn't go in or not go in. And I am very fair-skinned. Among the school's many notable graduates are Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., the first African . Bell served as a judge at every level of the Maryland court system; and on July 6, 2013, reached the state's mandatory retirement age of 70 years for appellate and circuit court judges. MR. KOJO NNAMDIAlison Stewart joins us in studio. AlumniClass.com is not affiliated with and is independent of any school, school district, alumni association or any other sites. And you were talking earlier about, you know, the middle class, you know, college orientation of Dunbar and N Street High School, those are the roots that it came from. BEVERLYHi. Reggie Lewis (November 21, 1965 July 27, 1993) was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993. Allison. She rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on the third season of American Idol, placing seventh. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. We talk with author and journalist Alison Stewart, whose new book explores Dunbars past and ponders the future of D.C.s public school system. Where did race fit into the original idea for public education in the District? One of my students was in a wheelchair because of a shooting. MAYOR VINCENT GRAYWell, I think a substantial part, the view of Dunbar has this kind of elite place where these people from well heeled backgrounds came, I think that's myth. NNAMDIAnd if you've called, stay on the line. According to various historical records, there has been an alliance of alumni classes for the 1800s &, 1900s. I will go to an elementary question because we've gotten several emails asking who's Dunbar? I'm going to bring up that at one point to get into Dunbar, regardless of whether you came from another state or if you were a Washingtonian, you had to pass what they call, is the paper bag test and I'd like to know if that is written about in your book. STEWARTOh, an incredible amount of urgency, both professionally and personally. JACKOkay. Here are some of the notable people celebrating . But anyway, I went to Dunbar, the youngest of six. From left: Darryl Wood, Reggie Lewis, Reggie Williams, Tim Dawson and Jerry White. It was about the people who went there, the teachers who went there, and the community that invested itself in that school. We're inviting you to join the conversation by calling 800-433-8850. He played the point guard position. And also NNAMDIWell, before you go any further, Keith, what is your source for that story? Daisy Christean Allen. STEWARTYeah, she was a person who would look at the students individually because so many times some of the kids who had arrived at M Street and Dunbar who were very bright may have been underserved in their early education. For many years, Dunbar has been recognized around the country as the producer of the city and countrys best and brightest students, scholars, and achievers. That's the way it worked. My parents went there. And then we start talking about color lines. In 2016 the Rhne-Alpes rgion was joined with the rgion of Auvergne to form the new administrative entity of Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes. Dunbar was the nation's first public high school for black students when it opened more than 140 years ago and it was once a major point of pride for the city. STEWARTThank you. I believe when the original school was torn down in the 1970s and there was such a fierce battle about it, that was a lot of the drumbeat for the people who wanted old Dunbar torn down. Good afternoon. It looked like a movie set to me. NNAMDILet me go to somebody who had your experience, parents and grandparents all went to Dunbar. STEWARTAnd then once reconstruction ended, as they call it in the South, the redemption began, and all the Jim Crow laws came into power. Go ahead, please. DAF also made a compelling case for the accelerated financing and construction of the New Dunbar building, and in collaboration with Principal Jackson recently installed the Dr. Laurence E. Graves Museum of Dunbar history within the new school building. What do you think needs to happen if the quality of the education being given at D.C.'s public schools is to match the quality of some of the new buildings in which those schools operate? Marika Fotini Antimisiaris. What are you talking about? And I want to say the reason I'm using that word, and I write about it in my forward, is I chose to use the word colored and Negro and Black and African-American as the words were used during those times and as various newspapers, news sources like The New York Times and The Atlantic decided to change the language. NNAMDIHere is Janie in Washington, D.C. Janie, you're on the air. Welcome! Allow me to go back to the telephones to Beverly in Washington, D.C. Hi, Beverly. BEVERLYIt was a fascinating discussion because many of the black educators are saying, well, we support her going to a black school because our schools are just as good as the white schools. Samuel James Cassell Sr. (born November 18, 1969) is a former professional basketball player and current assistant coach of the Los Angeles Clippers. STEWARTI just started writing, figuring out who I wanted to talk to and write to them because I knew these people were in their 70s, 80s and 90s. Memorials Add a Memorial The memorials below are for students of Dunbar High School that have passed away. whose wife had to buy his freedom for $400 before they could even conceive of building a school. STEWARTSo there was this sense that in Washington, if you could figure out how to do it and how to do it safely, I have to add, because many of these schools were run out of the homes they were in. Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., was the nation's first public high school for black students. Dunbar operated out of the Thaddeus Stevens School from 1871 1872; the Charles Sumner School from 1872 1877, the Myrtilla Miner school at 7th & Church Street, NW and remained there until 1891 when it became the M Street High school. And it's just this fascinating discussion that's about skin color and it's also about this kind of competition really, that was there between the white and black schools. The people who rose to the highest within the ROTC, who were honor society, it was how smart you were. We will get to your calls. I'm Kojo Nnamdi. STEWARTYeah, there are two things that I want to unpack with what Beverly talked about. And it came up in every conversation naturally and organically. Dunbar competes in the Dayton City League. NNAMDIYou know, in the same way that Lee Daniels the Butler attempts to use the movie as a kind of historical reflection on the Civil Rights movement, in a lot of ways this is precisely what this book "First Class" is. He really did not profit by his brilliance. Am I going to regret being on TV for a year, or am I going to regret not being there with my family when they need me. NNAMDIWelcome back to our conversation about the history and evolution of Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. We're talking with Alison Stewart. And of course what he said wasn't wrong. Dunbar. But the interesting thing in Washington D.C. was while the government did not provide public schools for black students, African-American students, colored students as they called them, it was not illegal to teach free coloreds in the District. NNAMDIWell, we'll get to that in a second, but first, here's Alison Stewart. After Little Rock [Central] High Schoolwas completed in 1927, School Board member G. DeMatt Henderson, Sr., believed that a new high school for African-American students also should be built. NNAMDIYeah. What kind of urgency did you come to this project with? Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Horror Movies That Don't Look Like Horror Movies, Famous Paul Laurence Dunbar High School Alumni. And you said to yourself, who is this Miner person? But to pay off her debts she had to go teach in the south. But how did people feel about the idea of public education in the District at the time? The group formed the core of the 1982-1983 Dunbar High School basketball team. And very interestingly -- you know, I don't know if we want to open the debate about charter schools -- but the Kipp Schools are now doing the same thing. But a lot of people don't realize that he came up with that wonderful line. If you have 800 students in Washington D.C. Dunbar High School at any given time during these decades, if they were all doctors and lawyers, I don't think there are that many in D.C. NNAMDIEven thought Eleanor Holmes Norton herself is quoted as saying that, "If you wanted to go to college, Dunbar was the place that you went to." The fourth period began in the 70s with the razing of the 1916 building and replacement with a modern structure. [9] It was named after the 19th century African-American poet and writer, Paul Laurence Dunbar, whose parents were from Kentucky. Even if alumni from Dunbar High School have moved away from Mobile, Alabama, they can use this site to find and contact high school friends. This list of distinguished Paul Laurence Dunbar High School alumni is loosely ordered by relevance, so the most recognizable celebrities who attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High School are at the top of the list. There have been documentaries. And she was persecuted for it by the school board. Go to my website, alisonstewart.net. View, post and comment on photo's and events with your classmates! The second period of its history began on M Street and lasted until 1916 when it dropped its founding name and became the M Street High School where high standards of achievement were established. NNAMDIThank you very much for your call, Janie. At the center, with the ball, is Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues. Jan. 2023 News; Decemeber 2022 News (2) December 2022 News; November 2022 News; September 2022 News; July 2022 News; June 2022 News (2) May 2022 News; . Well, you know, I left the PBS show "Need to Know" to finish this book. He was doing the white school, which had twice the budget. I was not a Democrat so that was a miracle in itself. King, Francis O. Taylor, Reverend Dr. Leonard N. Smith, Bishop Lyles Duke & Reverend Deborah Duke and Coach Craig Jeffries. If you see your name among the Dunbar High School graduates, someone is looking for you! STEWARTIn my mind, hearing my parents talk about it -- and my father's father went to Dunbar as well and graduated in 1915 when it was still the M Street School. STEWARTIt was actually the best thing that ever happened to me. Dunbar Alumni Federation Treasurer and School Improvement Team Member, Alumni Condolence Registry & Remembrances. A Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander B Arrelious Benn A. STEWARTWell, the public schools were established for white students and white students only. The alumni of Dunbar Senior High in Dunbar, West Virginia are encouraged to use this site to relive their time in high school by sharing with former students and teachers of Dunbar Senior High School. Sale price: $59.99. D.C.s Dunbar High School will begin classes this year in a brand new building. Sarah Alexandria Anderson. Now, I don't how he was able to do that NNAMDII'm going to tell you Campbell we're running out of time, but if you read, "First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America's First Black Public High School," for you it might seem autobiographical if you read the book. We hear about that a lot these days in the modern debate about education, but talk about that. NNAMDIAnd when she said she was going to do that to Frederick Douglas, he essentially told her, you're crazy. And given that background, I just wanted to make a comment. As a rgion, it encompassed the southeastern dpartements of Loire, Rhne, Ain, Haute-Savoie, Savoie, Isre, Drme, and Ardche. Share your memories by posting photos or stories, or find out about your next class reunion! STEWARTSo I, you know, as a journalist, I'm always in and out of D.C. and I said to a colleague, somebody from NPR, hey, I'm going to go over and see Dunbar. The shooting guard-small forward spent 15 years in the National Basketball Association with six teams. The Dunbar High School was a segregated public high school for African-American students founded in 1922, and located at 545 North Upper Street in the Northside neighborhood in Lexington. David Grover Stacey Wingate, Jr. (born December 15, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player. And a funny story is I, in my exuberance, in my haste, I wrote a bunch of letters and I sent them out and one was returned to me corrected by a Dunbar graduate in red pen because I had NNAMDIOh, I know who I'm dealing with now. I want her to bed educated. This is dangerous. The school, which opened in 1942 claims among its famous alumni, Lou Rawls, Jennifer Hudson, Mr. T., NBA Championship Player Ronnie Lester, and former Chicago radio personality LaDonna. Formal partnerships are or will be developed for each Academy. NNAMDIThat's probably one of the instructions they got in Dunbar, you can't breakup. My name is Jack Nelson and I'm a native Washingtonian now living in Annapolis. STEWARTMy parents talked about how rigorous the curriculum was. Customize any of our Dunbar High School Poets designs to fully personalize your product by choosing colors, text, and even adding a back design. This area is dedicated to our alumni that have served or are serving in our armed forces! Public secondary school in Dayton, Ohio, United States, Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships, "Ohio High School Athletic Association Web site", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dunbar_High_School_(Dayton,_Ohio)&oldid=1139790579, Short description is different from Wikidata, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Pages using infobox school with a linked country, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Boys Track and Field Runners Up - 1962, 1965, 1970, 1984, 2001, 2011, 2018, Boys Track & Field Indoor State Champions (OATCCC) - 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016,2017,2018, Boys Track & Field Indoor State Runner Up (OATCCC) - 2010, Boys Track & Field Track Program has produced 18 Track & Field All Americans, Girls Track & Field State Runner Up - 2000, This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 22:35. Among the schools many notable graduates are Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., the first African American general in the Armed Forces, Lawrence Chambers, the first African American graduate of the U.S. This directory is not just composed of graduates of this school, as some of the famous people on this list didn't necessarily earn a degree from Dunbar High School. And they were furriers and hair dressers and truck drivers. Well, if you read the book "First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America's First Black Public High School," you now know who this Miner person was. NNAMDIBut finally a favorite poet of mine, Sterling Brown, was a graduate of Dunbar, it was when it was M Street School." Charles Richard Drew (June 3, 1904 April 1, 1950) was an American surgeon and medical researcher. Email to kojo@wamu.org or simply call us at 800-433-8850. From left: Darryl Wood, Reggie Lewis, Reggie Williams, Tim Dawson and Jerry White. At the center, with the ball, is. Because few people are as important to Dunbar's history as Anna J. Cooper, a woman who became the principal of the school that eventually became Dunbar M Street High School. STEWARTThe other reason I think it has really stuck to Dunbar's history -- and I think unfairly, I'll be honest, I think -- because I don't think that's what the school was about. It was Myrtilla Miner. So thank you very much for your call. It was considered -- they were considered pauper schools. According to a 1978 New Yorker magazine article by Jervis Anderson, there had been roughly four periods in the history of Dunbar High School. Emily Marie Adkins. Give us a call at 800-433-8850. It was created to educate African-American youth and to employ teachers of color. 1948 Dunbar Graduating Class Composite. Prominent graduates from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School include celebrities, politicians, business people, athletes and more. I'm Kojo Nnamdi. If she saw a student that she thought was an excellent student, she would write specifically to a college in the north to Harvard, Yale, Amherst, Overland and say, I have a qualified negro candidate for you. The third period in its history commenced in 1916 when the school moved to a newer and larger building at 1st & N Street, NW and was renamed the Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in honor of the first nationally recognized black poet. She was burned out of the school building several times. STEWARTAnd I came to understand their huge contribution in my life. I don't know if there's anything you'd like to add in terms of how he can acquire the book. What pieces of history about Washington's education system or Washington's African-American history do you think are in danger of being lost if efforts are not made to preserve them? Tupac Amaru Shakur ( TOO-pahk sh-KOOR; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. NNAMDIHow much of your desire to tell the story came out of a feeling that if it wasn't told that people who still knew it, the people who didn't think of it as a basketball or a football power, that people who still lived it would fade away? And the Miner school became a real outlet for graduates of Dunbar. They were -- the black high school, Dunbar, its predecessor M Street were rivals. STEWARTYou're crazy. STEWARTThere were kids in the hall. I walked around the halls pretty freely as did many of the students changing STEWARTYeah, and you know, there were educators who were trying to get things done. disease. How did going to Dunbar in your view shape his perspective? A. Birch Jr. Mel Boozer James E. Bowman He was very popular and very powerful in Washington, D.C. And many people owed their careers to Booker T. Washington. I think that was what he actually ended up learning at Dunbar. STEWARTAnd when he got to D.C., he said I don't think anybody mentioned that my school was going to be segregated. We move on to Jack in Annapolis, Md. STEWARTAnd voting power. STEWARTYeah. CAMPBELLWell, thank you so very much, and, yes, indeed. For former Dunbar High students from VA, you can view the class reunion information that has been posted by other site visitors. STEWARTAt first, I thought it was really a sad story. MS. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTONIt was an extraordinary day to be sitting in any segregated classroom, but especially at Dunbar High School. Our guest is Alison Stewart. Let's go to the phones. People on this list must have gone to Dunbar High School and be of some renown. She had been there for years. Its alumni include the U.S. Armys first black general and the first black federal judge in American history. Thank you very much for your contribution to the conversation. STEWARTBut you could possibly, possibly get educated in Washington D.C. if you were a colored American. She was a very small, frail woman from New York who wanted to be educated herself and came up against about sexism at the time. They include: The Dr. Anna J. Cooper Educational Career Academy in Administration and Counseling; the Dr. Charles Drew STEM Academy in Bio-Medicine and Engineering; the Eleanor Holmes Norton Leadership Academy in Business and Public Policy and the Vincent C. Gray Ninth Grade Leadership Academy for a smooth transition into high school. She is the author of the book "First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America's First Public Black High School." One Dunbar graduate said, you know, the rallying cry had been integration, integration, integration, and nobody thought about what would happen to Dunbar when the school would go from being a magnet school to a neighborhood school. You did everything you wanted to do. The group formed the core of the 1982-1983 Dunbar High School basketball team. Iola Baylor, coach and high school athletic director And I said, yeah, well, where are you from? If you have called, stay on the line. From a technical perspective, the new Dunbar edifice is often described by city facilities officials and the Architects and Engineers of EEK, now Perkins Eastman & Moody-Nolan as: A Compact Site Design which weaves the sports fields of the school and recreation center together through the Armory, fosters more frequent interaction between students and staff, allows for ease of circulation and service, facilitates security through a single door, easier to maintain; A Civic Presence/Iconic Massing inspired by elements of historic Dunbar: tower elements, bay windows, articulated corners, strong horizontal lines, responds to every side: N Street/New York Avenue, 1st Street, O Street, New Jersey Avenue, centered by the Armory with a clear relationship to the fields, creates an iconic lantern through the Media Center facing New York Avenue; and a Distinct Place-Making creates a multi-function heart of the school in the Armory, accommodates after-hours use by organizing the Gym, Pool, Media Center & Theatre around the Armory, connects academic neighborhoods through two double-height spaces, engages the park through a south facing entry plaza, and creates a park-like setting on both sides of N Street featuring sports fields, basketball courts and concessions. Share your memories by posting photos or stories, or find out about your next class reunion! This list of distinguished Paul Laurence Dunbar High School alumni is loosely ordered by relevance, so the most recognizable celebrities who attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High School are at the top of the list. STEWARTBut what about Senator Ed Brooke, what about Charles Drew, what about all of these luminaries? Eleanor Holmes Norton (Class of 55) and D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (Class of 59) share their memories of attending the famed school. He also helped the Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves reach the Conference Finals of the playoffs in 2001 and 2004. I mean, he was a great leader but there was that idea that there was -- you had to pick one side or the other. Paul Laurence Dunbar. But let me say, I think the issue about the skin color is a myth. In the 19th -- the early part of the 20th century, middle class starts to grow again in Washington, D.C. Jobs and government starts to get bigger and bigger. STEWARTAnd every Dunbar graduate I interviewed, I don't care how old they were, could recite the entire poem.