Wiley H. Bates High School was a historic black school building in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It was completed in 1932, and replaced the original Annapolis Colored High School.[2] The school building was named after Wiley H. Bates, a prominent African-American businessman and community leader whose financial donations enabled the school to be built.[3] The name of the school lives on in Wiley H. Bates Middle School, while the original building has been turned into a retirement home combined community center.[4]
The original portion of the building is a flat-roofed, two-story building of brick and masonry bearing walls and wood frame floor and roof structure in Colonial Revival style.[2] First-floor classrooms were added to both the north and south sections in 1937, and second-floor classrooms were added in 1945. Additional teaching facilities were added in 1950,[2] in a simplified International or Modern style.
The site is now known as Wiley H. Bates Heritage Park. The building has been repurposed into 71 senior housing units, a senior center, a boys and girls club, and a museum dedicated to Annapolis merchant and civic leader Wiley H. Bates.[5]
Prior to desegregation, Bates was the only public school in the county that African-American students could attend for a secondary level education.[6] In 1966, Annapolis schools were integrated by court order, the upper grades moved to Annapolis High School, and Bates continued as one of the city's two integrated junior high schools.[7] In 1981, a new high school was constructed and Bates left its original building and moved into part of the old high school campus. Since 1990, it has been called Bates Middle School.
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