George Washington Carver High School was a public

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

. It served as the high school for black students until the public schools were integrated in 1968.

History

For most of its history,

Collier County Collier County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 375,752; an increase of 16.9% since the 2010 United States Census. Its county seat is East Naples, where the county offices were moved from E ...

did not provide an education for the black youth of Naples. They were allowed to attend schools such as Dunbar High School in

Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

, a one hour bus trip, and later to Bethune School in

Immokalee (your home) , nickname = , settlement_type = Census-designated place , motto = , image_skyline = File:Immokalee-Zocalo Plaza 2018.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption ...

. In the 1950s, schools for elementary-school-aged blacks were opened and grades were added year by year. By 1959, a high school was added and George Washington Carver High School was founded. There were two teachers provided for the school. Athletics also were segregated, so the teams had to travel long distances for games. Blacks were not allowed to attend the

Naples High School Naples High School is a secondary education school located in Naples, Florida, and is one of eight public high schools located in Collier County. Naples High School is part of the District School Board of Collier County. Academics Athletic ...

's games but were permitted to watch through the fence. The school graduated a total of 33 students in its 9-year history. In the mid-1960s, Collier County School superintendent Bill Reynolds integrated the faculty of Naples High School by moving Herbert Cambridge, a teacher at Carver, to Naples. Unlike many segregated districts in Florida, there was no court order and black students were integrated into the white schools with little public comment in 1968. The school site today houses the River Park Community Center as well as the George Washington Carver public housing project.

References

{{authority control Historically segregated African-American schools in Florida Public high schools in Florida Defunct schools in Florida 1968 disestablishments in Florida Historically black schools 1959 establishments in Florida