Joel Elias Spingarn High School was a public high school located in the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, USA. The school is named after
Joel Elias Spingarn
Joel Elias Spingarn (May 17, 1875 – July 26, 1939) was an American educator, literary critic, civil rights activist, military intelligence officer, and horticulturalist.
Biography
Spingarn was born in New York City to an upper middle-cla ...
(1875–1939) an American educator and literary critic who established the
Spingarn Medal in 1913, awarded annually for outstanding achievement by an African American.
History
Spingarn High School opened in 1952, as a new and modern segregated high school for African American students. It was the last segregated high school built in Washington, DC, just two years before the U.S. Supreme Court ended school segregation in ''
Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
''.
The formal dedication ceremonies in December 1953 were attended by Joel Spingarn's widow, Amy Spingarn, and by Spingarn Medal winners
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...
and
W. E. B. Du Bois. The principal speaker at the dedication was
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...
professor
John Hope Franklin
John Hope Franklin (January 2, 1915 – March 25, 2009) was an American historian of the United States and former president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Histo ...
.
Dr. Purvis J. Wiliams was the first principal and served until 1971. Under his leadership, Spingarn gained a reputation as one of the top black schools in the district. Spingarn's enrollment was around 1500 students, who were almost entirely black even after desegregation.
[
Woodson Junior High School students were housed in Spingarn High School from 1962 to 1963.
Spingarn High School closed at the end of the 2012-13 school year due to low enrollment which had dropped to 374 students that year.][
In May 2014, the school was added to the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
Basketball teams
Spingarn High School had one of DC's most impressive basketball histories and has produced well-known players such as Elgin Baylor
Elgin Gay Baylor ( ; September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lak ...
, Dave Bing
David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
After starring a ...
and Sherman Douglas
Sherman Douglas (born September 15, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player from Syracuse University who played for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers from 1989 to 200 ...
. Spingarn has played in more City Title games than all but one DC public school and won in 1961, 1980, 1985 and 2000. The school has also played in nine DCIAA title games and won consecutively for three years between 2000 and 2003.
Notable alumni
* Elgin Baylor
Elgin Gay Baylor ( ; September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lak ...
, a retired Hall of Fame American basketball player and former NBA general manager who played 13 seasons as a forward for the Minneapolis / Los Angeles Lakers.
* Dave Bing
David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
After starring a ...
, a retired Hall of Fame American professional basketball player in the NBA, primarily for the Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...
from 1966 to 1975 and a former Mayor of Detroit
This is a list of mayors of Detroit, Michigan. See History of Detroit, Michigan, for more information about the history of the incorporation of the city.
The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014.
History ...
from 2009 to 2013.
* John B. Catoe Jr.
John B. Catoe, Jr. is the former general manager of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority from 2007 to 2010. He was sworn in on January 27, 2007, replacing Jack Requa, the acting General Manager. Catoe was born and raised in a low-inco ...
, former general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...
* Sherman Douglas
Sherman Douglas (born September 15, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player from Syracuse University who played for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers from 1989 to 200 ...
, a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA for the Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...
, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
, New Jersey Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
and the Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
from 1989 to 2001.
* Michael Graham, a retired American professional basketball player who played on Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
's 1984 national championship team.
* Ollie Johnson, a retired American basketball player who was an All-American at the University of San Francisco
The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...
and a first round draft pick of the Boston Celtics.
* Earl Jones, a retired American professional basketball player who was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers.
* John Kinard
John Robert Edward Kinard (November 22, 1936 – August 5, 1989) was an American social activist, pastor, and museum director. He is best known as the director of the Anacostia Museum, a small community museum founded by the Smithsonian Instit ...
, founding director of the Anacostia Museum, a Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
museum
* Willie Royster, former MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player for the Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
* Stan Washington, retired NBA player for the Washington Bullets
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
* Clarence Musgrove, former All-American athlete in track and field, inducted into the Catholic University Hall of Fame
* Mike Hinnant, former NFL player, inducted into the Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...
Hall of Fame
* Warren Buck III, physics professor at Hampton University who established the university's physics doctoral program. Also served as the first chancellor of University of Washington Bothell
The University of Washington Bothell (UW Bothell) is a branch campus of University of Washington in Bothell, Washington. It was founded in 1989 and is located just northwest of the junction of Interstate 405 and State Route 522, and it shares ...
.
References
{{Coord, 38, 53, 58.3, N, 76, 58, 15.3, W, display=title
Educational institutions established in 1952
Educational institutions disestablished in 2013
Defunct schools in Washington, D.C.
District of Columbia Public Schools
African-American history of Washington, D.C.
School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
1952 establishments in Washington, D.C.