Booker T Washington High School (BTW), originally known as Jonesboro Industrial High School (IHS) was the first high school for African-Americans in Northeast Arkansas. It provided education for African-American children over a wide swath of Northeastern Arkansas, as sundown towns such as Paragould, Arkansas and other surrounding cities and counties contracted with Jonesboro to educate their Black children. [1]
The Colored School Improvement Association successfully lobbied the city Council to donate bricks from a collapsed city-owned auditorium, and raised money for a site for a school to be built. The original lot at the intersection of Bridge and Hope streets was purchased for $2,600. While the bricks were transported to the site and cleaned, several attempts to build the high school were thwarted. After D.W. Hughes signed on as principal of the Cherry Street School that served students through grade 8, he garnered support for building the high school at a new lot at Logan and Patrick Street. Using the bricks from the demolished auditorium, Hughes designed a new building, and IHS finally opened in 1924.
In 1933, the Jonesboro School Board divested the school in the middle of the school year, forcing students to pay tuition. Around half of the students dropped out. In 1935 the school was renamed after Black author and educator Booker T. Washington. After World War II, the school initiated sports program and took Eskimoes as their nickname. In 1951 the school was relocated to a site at Houghton St and Matthews Avenue. In 1954 the old building was torn down.
In order to offset the cost of education, the school board contracted with surrounding school boards to educate Black students at BTW. These included Bay, Lake City, Paragould, Biggers, Pocahantas, Walnut Ridge, Black Rock, Imboden, Weiner, Trumann, and various others.[ citation needed ]
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas declared laws maintaining separate public schools for Black and White children to be unconstitutional. Lawyer Wiley A. Branton challenged the arrangement Jonesboro had with other school districts, threatening to file suit against the Jonesboro School District and all contracting districts unless they provided education for Black children nearer their homes. Jonesboro cancelled all the contracts at the end of the 1957-1958 school year. At this time, the school board adopted a Freedom of Choice plan that allowed children to choose to attend schools regardless of their race. As a result of the changes, BTW's enrollment dropped dramatically. The school board closed the school in 1966. The building was demolished in 2001. The site is now occupied by the E. Boone Watson Community Center and African American Cultural Center, which preserves black culture in Jonesboro.
Frederick C. Turner, Jr., First student, faculty member at Arkansas State University. Commander of U.S. Army Forces at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). [2]
Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,736. The county seat is Paragould, which sits atop Crowley's Ridge. Greene County is included in Jonesboro–Paragould Combined Statistical Area.
Jonesboro is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County. In 2023, the city had an estimated population of 80,560, making it the fifth-most populous city in Arkansas. In 2020, the Jonesboro metropolitan area had a population of 134,196, and the Jonesboro-Paragould Combined Statistical Area had a population of 179,932.
Paragould is the county seat of Greene County, and the 19th-largest city in Arkansas, in the United States. The city is located in northeastern Arkansas on the eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge, a geologic anomaly contained within the Arkansas Delta.
St. Patrick's High School was a non-denominational school centrally located on Quinpool Road in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Historically a Roman Catholic public school, St. Pat's opened in 1954 less than one block from its rival non-denominational public school, Queen Elizabeth High (QEH). St. Patrick's closed in 2007, merging with QEH to form Citadel High School. The school building was demolished in 2015.
Arkansas Tech University (ATU) is a public university in Russellville, Arkansas, United States. The university offers programs at both baccalaureate and graduate levels in a range of fields. The Arkansas Tech University–Ozark Campus, a two-year satellite campus in the town of Ozark, primarily focuses on associate and certificate education.
Allen University is a private historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Allen University Historic District.
Paragould School District is a public school district headquartered in Paragould, Arkansas. It serves the northern portion of Paragould and Oak Grove Heights.
Booker T. Washington High School, also known as Booker T,BTW, or the Academy Of Visual and Performing Arts, is a public high school located in Norfolk, Virginia. It is administered by Norfolk Public Schools system. The school colors are maroon, white and gold. The school is called “The Mighty Booker T” and the “Fighting Bookers" in Norfolk, Virginia.
Wechsler School is a historic school in Meridian, Mississippi erected in 1894. The school was the first brick public school building in Mississippi built with public funds for African-American children. It originally served primary through eighth grades but was later expanded to include high school as well. The school was named in honor of Rabbi Judah Wechsler of Congregation Beth Israel, who had led and inspired Meridian public to approve a bond issue to raise money for construction of the school. The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 and designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1993.
Blytheville High School is a comprehensive public high school for students in grades nine through twelve located in Blytheville, Arkansas, United States. It is one of six public high schools in Mississippi County, Arkansas and the only high school managed by the Blytheville School District.
Pocahontas School District is a public school district based in Pocahontas, Arkansas, United States. The Pocahontas School District provides early childhood, elementary and secondary education for more than 2,000 pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students. Students are from 165.38 square miles (428.3 km2) of land, encompassing Randolph County communities including all of Pocahontas. Pocahontas School District is accredited by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and by AdvancED since 2009.
The Hughes School District, formerly located in Hughes, Arkansas, United States was a public school district that closed in the summer of 2015 due to declining enrollment.
The Fargo Training School in Fargo, Arkansas was founded as a private school initially known as the Fargo Agricultural School. It was an historically important school from the segregation era, and its surviving campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. The campus includes five historic buildings.
Joseph Carter Corbin was a journalist and educator in the United States. Before the abolition of slavery, he was a journalist, teacher, and conductor on the Underground Railroad in Ohio and Kentucky. After the American Civil War, he moved to Arkansas where he served as superintendent of public schools from 1873 to 1874. He founded the predecessor of University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and was its first principal from 1875 until 1902. He ended his career in education spending a decade as principal of Merrill High School in Pine Bluff. He also taught in Missouri.
The Kirkwood R-7 School District is a public school district headquartered in Kirkwood, Missouri.
Biggers-Reyno School District was a school district in Randolph County, Arkansas, serving Biggers and Reyno. It was headquartered in Biggers, and operated two schools: Biggers-Reyno High School in Biggers, and Biggers-Reyno Elementary School in Reyno.
Delaplaine High School was a middle school and senior high school in Delaplaine, Arkansas. It was initially controlled by the Delaplaine School District, which merged into the Greene County Tech School District on July 1, 2004. After the consolidation it was operated by the GCT school district and served students from the former Delaplaine School District boundary. It served Delaplaine, O'Kean, and Peach Orchard.
Walnut Ridge School District was a school district headquartered in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. Walnut Ridge Elementary School and Walnut Ridge High School were its schools.
Booker T. Washington Magnet High School (BTW) is a public magnet high school in Montgomery, Alabama.
Frederick C. Turner Jr. was one of the first Black students who integrated Arkansas State University, graduating in 1960. Commissioned as an infantry officer in the US Army, he served three tours in Vietnam. In 1969, he returned to ASU as Assistant Professor of Military Science to become the first Black faculty member. He later served on the staff at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and then as a member of the faculty of the Command and General Staff College at Leavenworth, Kansas. Colonel Turner retired from military service in 1982 at the rank of colonel.
