Central High School (Cleveland, Ohio)

Home of Central High from 1878 to 1940

Central High School was established in 1846 as the first high school in Cleveland and the first free public high school west of the Alleghenies. Initially, classes were held in the basement of the Universalist church on Prospect Avenue. After Ohio City was annexed to Cleveland, West High School was established as a division of the school since state law allowed only one public high school in Cleveland.[1]

Central High School moved to its own building in 1856, a brick and stone building that stood at the southwest corner of what is now East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue.[2] This was in use until 1878, when a larger, gothic style building, featuring a large clock tower donated by alumnus John D. Rockefeller Sr., opened at 2201 East 55th Street. This building served as the home of CHS until 1940, when a new building opened. The 1878 structure continued in use as a junior high until it was razed in 1952 and an elementary school, George Washington Carver Elementary School, was built on the site.[3]

The final home of Central High School was built in 1940, at 2225 East 40th Street. This building served as the home of CHS until 1952, when the school was merged with East Technical High School.[4] Following the merger the 1940 CHS building remained in use for many years as Stokes Elementary School, named for Louis and Carl Stokes. It closed in 2013 as part of a district reorganization plan.[5] As of 2023, however, the 1940 CHS building still stands, though is vacant.

• Helen Maria Chesnutt, among the earliest women of color in American classical education [6]

Langston Hughes at Central High

• Charles Francis Brush, inventor and industrialist[7]
• Benjamin O. Davis Jr., first African-American to graduate from West Point since 1889. First African-American brigadier general in the USAF. Promoted to four-star general by President Bill Clinton.[8]
• Harry Edward Davis, lawyer and Ohio state legislator [9]
• Russell Howard Davis, educator, activist, and historian. An alumnus, he returned to the school as its principal.[10]
• Marcus A. Hanna, businessman and U.S. Senator. Served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. [11]
• Langston Hughes, poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist [12]
• Helen Haiman Joseph, the "grandmother of American puppetry" because of her practical and scholarly knowledge of marionettes[13]
• , businessman and philanthropist.[14]
• John L. Severance, industrialist and philanthropist [15]
• Noble Sissle, African-American composer, bandleader and vocalist [16]
• Thaddeus Spratlen, business school professor[17]
• Louis Stokes, attorney, civil rights pioneer, and politician who served 15 terms in the US House of Representatives [18]