Carver High School (Phoenix, Arizona) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids George Washington Carver High School |
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Phoenix Union Colored High School
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 Location in Arizona
Location in the United States
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| Location | 415 E. Grant Street, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Area | 4.9 acres (2.0 ha) |
| Built | 1926 |
| Architect | Pierson & Johnson |
| Architectural style | 20th Century Commercial |
| NRHP reference No. | 91000543 |
| Added to NRHP | May 2, 1991 |
Carver High School, also known as George Washington Carver High School, was a public high school in Phoenix, Arizona. It was created to serve African-American students during a time when schools were separated by race. This separation was called school segregation.
The school's building was the only one in Arizona built just for African American high school students. Since 1996, the building has been home to the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center.
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A Special Historic Place
Carver High School was built on a piece of land that used to be a landfill. It was surrounded by warehouses. Students who went there said the school was placed between two African American neighborhoods in South Phoenix. This was done to serve as many African American students as possible.
The land for the school was bought for $10,500 in 1925. Some people were worried about the location. They thought it was too close to industrial areas and might not be healthy. Even the school board admitted that guards might be needed to keep children safe.
The school was built by Pierson & Johnson for $110,000. In 1948, the school was made bigger. New shop classrooms were added, along with a large stadium that could hold 1,000 people.
After the school closed, its buildings were used for offices and storage.
The school building and its land were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. This means it is an important historical site.
Saving the School Building
In 1996, a group of former Carver High students, called the Phoenix Monarchs Alumni Association, bought the school grounds. They raised $200,000, including money from the city's Parks and Recreation Board.
Starting in 2001, work began to turn the site into a community cultural center and art gallery. The City of Phoenix helped with this project, providing millions of dollars.
A local radio station, KJZZ, reported that the school campus could have been torn down if these efforts to save it had not happened.
Today, the main school building and the shop building are still standing. The old football field has been paved over, but the nearby grandstand is still there.
In March 2017, the campus was added to the Phoenix Historic Property Register. This protects the school from being torn down. It also helps the site get city support for repairs and improvements.
The School's History
| George Washington Carver High School | |
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| Former name | Phoenix Union Colored High School (1926–1943) |
| Type | Public, segregated |
| Established | 13 September 1926 |
| Closed | 1954 |
| Enrollment | 406 (1954) |
| Mascot | Monarchs |
Before Arizona became a state, a law was passed in 1909. It said that elementary schools could be segregated if there were more than eight African American students. However, high school segregation was never required by Arizona law.
In the 1910s and 1920s, African American students in Phoenix were separated. They attended classes in the basement of Phoenix Union High School. This was common in many Arizona schools at the time.
Carver High School started as a "Department for Colored Students" in 1918. It was in a back room of Phoenix Union High School's Commercial Building. There was only one teacher. Later, these students were moved to small cottages. They were also housed in a house on 9th Street and Jefferson.
The school officially opened in 1926. It cost the school district $150,000 to build. The district said it was built to serve the African American population. However, many people at the time believed the school was built to keep African American high school students separate. The school was the only legally segregated high school in Phoenix. It opened after a rise in anti-African American feelings after World War I.
The new school was officially opened on September 10, 1926, with a big ceremony. About 350 people filled the auditorium of the new Phoenix Union Colored High School. The school would have more teachers, better equipment, and sports teams. It even had a new air conditioning system. However, the sports teams were not allowed to play against White sports teams. They played against teams from schools for Mexican and Native American students, who were also segregated.
Classes at the school's final location began on September 14.
The school was renamed after George Washington Carver in 1943. This was the year Carver died. W. A. Robinson, a skilled educator, became the principal. The school closed in 1954. This happened a year after a judge in Maricopa County ruled that school segregation in Phoenix high schools was against the law. This ruling was part of the case Phillips vs. Phoenix Union High Schools and Junior College District.
Today, the Phoenix Union High School District's website does not say much about the school's segregated past. It only mentions that the school closed after schools became integrated.
Education at Carver High
Carver High School was known for its strong academic and sports programs. This was true even though it did not have many resources, like microscopes.
In 1943, when W. A. Robinson became principal, he hired many teachers from all over the country. Many of these teachers had Master's degrees. This was special because not many teachers had such advanced degrees at that time.
Ending Segregation
In 1950, two African Americans, Hayzel Burton Daniels and Carl Sims, were elected to the Arizona state legislature. They wanted to end "separate-but-equal" schools. Daniels and two White lawyers, with help from civil rights groups in Arizona, filed a lawsuit on June 9, 1952. They argued that: "The high schools for White students in Phoenix were better than the schools for African American students. Separating African American students by race made them feel inferior. It slowed down their learning and mental growth. It also kept them from getting the full benefits of an integrated school system."
On February 8, 1953, Judge Struckmeyer decided that the 1909 segregation law was unconstitutional. He ruled that all high schools had to integrate as soon as possible. This happened more than a year before the United States Supreme Court made its famous decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education.
After this, activist groups in Arizona worked to integrate elementary schools too.
On May 5, 1954, Superior Court Judge Charles Bernstein ruled in Heard v. Davis. He said that all elementary school segregation in Arizona went against the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This ruling came four days before the rest of the country integrated.
In the national desegregation case of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court used these two Arizona cases in their arguments to integrate schools across the country. Brown v. Board of Education was a very important moment in the Civil Rights Movement. It was a big step toward ending segregation. It also helped break down other barriers of unfair treatment for other minority groups.
Famous People from Carver High
- Betty Fairfax, an educator
- Calvin C. Goode, a Phoenix City Councilman
- J. Eugene Grigsby, a faculty member, artist, and art teacher
- Charles "Chuck" Harrison, an industrial designer
- Ira O’Neal, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen (a group of African American military pilots)
- Coy Payne, former mayor of Chandler, Arizona. He was the first African American to be elected mayor in Arizona.
- William Byron Rumford, a pharmacist and politician. He was the first African American elected to a state public office in Northern California.
- Ed Shivers, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen.
See also
- Phoenix Union High School, also a historic site
- List of museums focused on African Americans
