George Washington Carver High School (Rockville, Maryland) facts for kids

George Washington Carver High School and Junior College was a very important school for African American students in Rockville, Maryland. Before schools were integrated (meaning students of all races could attend the same schools), Carver High was the main high school for black students.

It opened in 1927 and was the only high school for black students in all of Montgomery County, Maryland, until schools became integrated between 1955 and 1961.

History of Carver High School

Early Schools for Black Students

The first high school for black children in Montgomery County, Maryland, opened in 1927. It was called Rockville Colored High School and had 40 students.

This school was built with some money from the Julius Rosenwald Fund. This fund helped build schools for African American children in the Southern United States during a time of segregation.

The first building had two classrooms and was made of wood. It was next to a two-room elementary school, and both shared one bathroom. At first, the county did not provide buses for students. So, parents and the black community worked together to buy a used bus.

In 1935, a new school building replaced the first one. It was also made of wood but covered with bricks to look like the schools for white students. This new school was called Lincoln High School. Just like the first school, it quickly became too crowded.

Fighting for Equal Pay

In 1937, a big step was taken for fairness. William B. Gibbs, Jr., who was the principal of Rockville Colored Elementary School, sued the Montgomery County School Board. He was represented by Thurgood Marshall, who later became a famous Supreme Court Justice.

The lawsuit was about unfair pay. White teachers were paid almost twice as much as black teachers. Because of this lawsuit, by 1938, all black elementary school teachers and high school teachers in the county started earning the same pay as white teachers.

The New Carver High School Building

In 1950, a new building was constructed for George Washington Carver High School. This new school had much better funding, similar to the white schools. It was a modern brick building with eight classrooms on the first floor. It also had large science and home economics labs on the second floor.

What made this school even more special was that it offered junior college-level courses. This was the first chance for black students in Montgomery County to get education beyond high school. At that time, Montgomery Junior College in Takoma Park was only for white students.

School Integration and Legacy

The class of 1960 was the last graduating class from Carver High School. This was because public schools in Montgomery County began to integrate. This means that black students started attending schools that were previously only for white students.

The first black elementary schools closed in 1955, and all the remaining ones, including Carver High, closed by 1961. Black students were then sent to schools across the county that used to be all-white. To help with integration, black teachers from Carver and other schools were transferred to these formerly all-white schools.

After the school closed, the county school board used the building for its offices and removed the Carver name. However, after people from the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and local black ministers asked for it, the name "Carver" was put back. In 2002, the building was recognized as a Rockville Historic District, marking its important place in history.