Kinloch High School was a segregated high school in
Kinloch, Missouri
Kinloch is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 298 as of the 2010 census.
The oldest African-American community to be incorporated in Missouri, Kinloch was home to a vibrant and flourishing black community for ...
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, black children were not allowed to receive an education in Missouri. After the Civil War, schooling started for black students. Douglass Elementary School opened in the 1890s and evolved into Douglass High School in the 1920s. Black communities in St. Louis were in such areas as North Webster, and Kinloch. In the 1930s, there was no high school whatsoever in Kinloch, for blacks or whites. Black children in Kinloch who wished to go to high school had to travel to other parts of the city such as Sumner High School (if they could afford the tuition) or Douglass High School (if they could somehow prove residency in far off
Webster Groves
Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census.
The city is home to the main campus of Webster University.
Geography
Webster Groves is located at ( ...
). White students traveled to Normandy High School, Ritenour High School, or Ferguson High School. The black population was outpacing that of the whites, so in 1936, the Dunbar elementary school began hosting a high school program for local black students. The Kinloch school board also received approval from the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
for the construction of a new high school, which turned into plans for two "
separate but equal
Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law, according to which racial segregation did not necessarily violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which nominally guaranteed "equal protec ...
' school buildings, one for blacks and one for whites. The decision was controversial, as many white families were opposed to the idea of a black high school, and there was pressure to split the school district into two. Three attempts to split were struck down, after which some white citizens countered by forming a separate city,
Berkeley, Missouri
Berkeley is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,228 at the 2020 census. Portions of St. Louis Lambert International Airport are within the city limits.Berkeley High School, and the "black" school was opened in 1938 as Kinloch High School, with its own board of education formed by the black residents. Kinloch became the second high school for black students in St. Louis County.
In 1954, the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
banned school segregation, but the residents of Kinloch and Berkeley ignored the ruling, claiming that the separate but adjoining districts allowed the continued separation. Segregation was maintained until 1971, when the U.S. Justice Department ordered the segregation unlawful. In 1973, when the Kinloch school had approximately 350 students, the Missouri State Board of Education merged the Kinloch and Berkeley into the
Ferguson-Florissant school district
The Ferguson-Florissant School District (FFSD) is a public school district located in Greater St. Louis and in Missouri. Its headquarters are in Hazelwood. The district covers all or part of 11 municipalities, serving more than 11,000 students f ...
, creating one large district with approximately 22,000 students. Kinloch's teachers were reassigned to other schools in the district, and the students transferred to
McCluer North High School
McCluer North High School (founded 1971) is a public school in Florissant, Missouri, United States in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The McCluer North campus is centrally located in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. Located in a residen ...
.
The school was eventually demolished, in part to make way for an expansion of the Lambert Airport.
Principals
*Orthel T. Roberts, (1936 - 1937) 1st Principal)
* Lucye Belue, (1944–1974)Wright. p. 42.
Athletics
* 1974, 2A Regional Championship, basketball
Notable alumni
*
Jenifer Lewis
Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films ''Beaches'' (1988) and '' Sister Act'' (1992). Le ...
, actress/singer
* Juanita Head Walton, Representative, Missouri House District 91