Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and Junior College was a school for black students in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

before integration.

History

In 1929, the

Rosenwald Fund The Rosenwald Fund (also known as the Rosenwald Foundation, the Julius Rosenwald Fund, and the Julius Rosenwald Foundation) was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind." Rosenwald became part-owner of S ...

provided the seed money to build a school for African-American children in little rock at the corner of Wright Avenue and Ringo Street, one of 338 Rosenwald Schools built in Arkansas. Prior to its opening, there were 5 elementary schools and one high school ( M. W. Gibbs at 18th and Ringo, named after local judge

Mifflin Wistar Gibbs Mifflin Wistar Gibbs (April 17, 1823 – July 11, 1915) was an American-Canadian politician, businessman, and advocate for Black rights. He became the first Black person elected to public office in British Columbia on November 16, 1866, upon win ...

), but part of Gibbs had been destroyed in a fire and of insufficient size for the community. The school opened under the name Negro School for Industrial Arts, but the local population wanted it to be a college preparatory school rather than a school that only prepared students for the labor force. With this in mind, the school was renamed Paul Laurence Dunbar High School after black author Paul Dunbar. The building project cost $400,000, of which $67,000 came from the Rosenwald Foundation, $30,000 from the school board, and the rest from local citizens. In contrast, the supposedly separate but equal Little Rock Central High was built in 1927 with $1.5 million in funds provided entirely by the school board. Dunbar was provided with textbooks after they were discarded from Central. Dunbar had 1/3 the number of classrooms and floor space, smaller faculty salaries, and no sports facilities. Dunbar closed as a high school and junior college in 1955 when the schools were integrated, and was demoted to junior high status. In 1980 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Notable people

Milton Crenchaw Milton Pitts Crenchaw (January 13, 1919 – November 17, 2015) was an American aviator who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and was the first Arkansan to be trained by the federal government as a civilian licensed pilot. He se ...

, pilot and flight instructor for the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

* L. Clifford Davis, civil rights attorney, judge *

Sammy Drake Samuel Harrison Drake (October 7, 1934 – January 27, 2010) was a Major League Baseball second and third baseman. He played two seasons with the Chicago Cubs from 1960 to 1961 and one season with the expansion 1962 New York Mets. Sammy and h ...

, former Major League Baseball Player *

Solly Drake Solomon Louis Drake (October 23, 1930 – August 18, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies during the 1956 and 1959 ba ...

, former Major League Baseball player *

Gertrude Jeannette Gertrude Hadley Jeannette (November 28, 1914Profile
thehistorymakers.com; accessed ...

, an American playwright, film and stage actress. She is also known for being the first woman to work as a licensed taxi driver in New York City, which she began doing in 1942. * Willie Smith, former player in the National Football League * Robert Williams, psychologist who coined the term "Ebonics".

References

{{authority control Historically black schools Public high schools in Arkansas