Frederick A. Douglass High School (Oklahoma City)

Last updated

Frederick A. Douglass High School
Location
Frederick A. Douglass High School (Oklahoma City)
900 North Martin Luther King Avenue

Oklahoma City
,
(Oklahoma County)
,
Oklahoma
73117

United States
Information
TypePublic high school
PrincipalKevin Jones
Staff55.45 (FTE) [1]
Grades9-12 [1]
Enrollment649 [1]  (2023-2024)
Student to teacher ratio11.70 [1]
ColorsBlack and orange    [2]
Nickname Trojans [2]
Website https://douglass.okcps.org/

Frederick A. Douglass High School is a public high school in the city of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The school began as a segregated school for African American students. It is named for American abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The school has a rich history and is known for its role in serving African-American students in the state of Oklahoma, and has produced a variety of academic researchers and civic leaders as well as military figures.

Contents

It was founded as the Colored School, and is also known as Douglass High School. [3]

About

The Frederick A. Douglass High School is located at 900 North Martin Luther King Avenue. The Trojans are the school's mascot. The new school building was built in 2006. The school song is "Rise up O Douglassites!". It serves 9th to 12th grades. [4] The school colors are black and orange. [5]

According in US News in 2018, the school has about 405 students, 97 percent are minority, with college readiness at 7 percent, and slightly less than half of students are proficient in reading and math. About a quarter take Advanced Placement (AP) exams. [6]

History

The Frederick A. Douglass School, initially called the Colored School opened in Oklahoma City in 1891 between Robinson and Harvey Avenues on California Street. [3] The original school burned and was relocated. [3] In 1934, the school moved again. Known as the Douglass Junior-Senior High School, it was located at 600 North High Street. Charles O. Rogers served as principal from 1935 to 1940, and was replaced in the role by Frederick Douglass Moon from 1940 until 1961. [7]

By 1952, the student body had grown substantially, experiencing a 40% growth rate in enrollment between 1945 and 1952. Moon met with black leaders and the Oklahoma City School Board to plead for a new school. On January 2, 1953, a ground breaking ceremony attended by dignitaries and leaders from the black community, including James Stewart, regional head of the southwest region of the NAACP; A. D. Matthews, president of the Negro Chamber of Commerce; and Maude Brockway, former president of the Oklahoma Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. In the 1950s, students from the school protested segregation and conducted sit-ins at segregated Oklahoma City businesses. [8] The new school was built on the site of the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds at Northeast 10th Street and Eastern Avenue.

The Old Douglass High School building at 600 North High Avenue was vacated in 1954, it became the site of the F. D. Moon Junior High School, later renamed the Page Woodson School. [9] The old building closed for school use in 1993, and was redeveloped into the Page Woodson Apartments. [10] [11]

The new Douglass High School opened in September 1954, in the midst of uncertainty surrounding the recent decision to desegregate schools by the U. S. Supreme Court. The dedication ceremony for the new school, the first black senior high school in Oklahoma City was held on May 1, 1955. The school was rebuilt in 2006 at 900 N. Martin Luther King Avenue. [3]

Music program

Zelia N. Breaux taught music at the school from 1918 to 1948, organizing the first junior high school band in the negro schools of Oklahoma. [12] Her students included Charlie Christian, Jimmy Rushing, and trumpet player turned writer Ralph Ellison.[ citation needed ] In the 1940s, she directed the Douglass High School chorus and the band became nationally known.

In the modern era, the band is known as the Pride of the East Side marching band and concert band. [13] It is led by director Jason Morgan, who leads bands with a style inspired by Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) bands. [13] [14]

Alumni

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Douglass High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Douglass High School". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bratcher, Michael (January 15, 2006). "Putting together the new Douglass High". The Oklahoman . Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Oklahoma City author, nationally known young adult author coming to Best of Books". Edmond Sun . March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  5. ↑ "MaxPreps - America's Source For High School Sports..." www.maxpreps.com.
  6. ↑ "Douglas High School". US News. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  7. ↑ Welge, William D. "Moon, Frederick Douglass (1896–1975)". The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society . Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  8. ↑ Baird, W. David (February 9, 1994). The Story of Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN   9780806126500 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Douglass High School, Old,". National Park Service. 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2026. With accompanying pictures
  10. ↑ "First high school at original state fairgrounds still making economic impact". The Oklahoman . Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. August 9, 2020. Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  11. ↑ "The Old Douglass High School has new life as apartments and community center". KFOR Oklahoma City. April 5, 2017. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  12. ↑ "The Old Douglass High School has new life as apartments and community center". KFOR. April 5, 2017.
  13. 1 2 Glover, Mike (July 14, 2022). "Douglass High School Band Invited To Perform In The Windy City". News9.com. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  14. ↑ Ogle, Abigail (June 22, 2021). "OKC All-Star Band camp modeled after HBCU marching bands unlike any other in metro". KOCO. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  15. ↑ Andrews, William L.; Foster, Frances Smith; Harris, Trudier (February 15, 2001). The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780198031758 – via Google Books.
  16. ↑ Broadbent, Peter (February 9, 2003). Charlie Christian: solo flight : the story of the seminal electric guitarist. Ashley Mark. ISBN   9781872639611 – via Google Books.
  17. ↑ "Dr. Anderson Macklin". The Oklahoman . August 31, 2001.
  18. ↑ "Rapper's Oklahoma City native mother laid to rest". Oklahoma Gazette. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  19. ↑ Griffin, David. "Private Services Set For Rap Star's Mom". www.newson6.com. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  20. ↑ James E. Warner, III and Brandi Haskins, Hon. Timothy D. DeGiusti, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/TFL_Jan-Feb2020-Hon.DeGiusti.pdf

35°28′31″N97°28′31″W / 35.4752°N 97.4753°W / 35.4752; -97.4753

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