Booker T. Washington High School

Booker T. Washington Comprehensive High School, named for the famous educator, opened in September 1924 under he auspices of the Atlanta Board of Education, with the late Charles Lincoln Harper as principal. As the first public high school for African-Americans in the state of Georgia and the Atlanta Public Schools, Washington High School serves as a beacon in history.

Designed by Atlanta-born architect Eugene C, Wachendorff, the building incorporate medieval and Byzantine elements, including the dramatic main entrance with five arches in two tiers. Six additions have been made to the original four-story building which is situated on 21.4 acres of land. It is fitting that visitors pass the statue of the school's namesake on the way to the entrance. One of the foremost black educators of the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, Booker T. Washington was born into slavery in 1856 on a small farm in Virginia. He went on to found the Tuskegee institute in 1881.

In 1927, the only exact replica of the Booker T. Washington monument at Tuskegee University in Alabama was erected at the school's entrance. The statue of Washington, called "Booker T. Washington Lifting the Veil of Ignorance," is an exact replica of the original bronze at the Tuskegee Institute by sculptor Charles Keck. The inscription reads: "He lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry."

Today, the school, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, boasts an enrollment of more than 1600 students with a faculty and staff of more than 100. Recent visitors to the historic institution have included South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, activist Jesse Jackson, civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, and President George W. Bush. The school serves as a cornerstone of Atlanta Public School's comprehensive reform program, Project GRAD( Graduation Really Achieves Dreams). The project aims to increase the number of inner city students who graduate and go to college.

Eight principals have served Booker T. Washington Comprehensive High School since it's opening in 1924: Mr. Charles L. Harper (1924-1942); Mr. Clinton Cornell (1942-1961); Dr. J. Y. Moreland (1961-1968); Dr. Alfonso Dawson (1968-1973); Dr. Robert L Collins, Jr. (1973-1990); Dr. Robert Lowe (1990-1994); Dr. Joyce Clarke (1994-1996); and Dr. Shirley Kilgore, the current principal, who assumed the position in 1996. To chronicle the school's illustrious history, an archives housing artifacts from 1924 to the present was opened in the main building in May 1998.

 

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Booker T. Washington High School, 45 White House Dr. SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30314, (404) 752-0728

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