Coleman High School (Arkansas)

Coleman High School was a public secondary school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas established in 1915. It served as a high school for black students until the public schools were integrated in 1971. It was a part of the Watson Chapel School District.

This article is about the formerly all-black high school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. For the public high school in Texas, see Coleman High School (Texas). For private school in New York, see John A. Coleman Catholic High School. For other uses, see Coleman High School.
Coleman High School
Location
Pine Bluff
,
Arkansas

U.S.
Information
Former nameHall School
Jefferson County Training School
Jefferson County High School
TypePublic
School districtWatson Chapel School District
NicknamePirates

History

The school was founded as Hall School because it was founded in an abandoned dance hall on West Seventh Street in Pine Bluff. In 1915, C.P. Coleman, a graduate of the all-black Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi took the position of principal as well as the entire faculty, with a student body of 50. In 1950, the school had a faculty of 23, a student body of 900, and had moved to West 13th street. The campus included a $30,000 high school building as well as an elementary building and a home economics center. The school gymnasium was at that time the only gym for Negro children in the county. In 1951, a fireproof high school building and a science lab were added on an adjacent tract of land.

On April 15, 1970 there was a shooting resulting in five injuries and one death.[1]

District Court for Eastern District of Arkansas judge Oren Harris, in 1971, ordered the Watson Chapel School Board to desegregate schools. The former Coleman High School/Coleman Elementary School was to become a combined middle school while all high school students were to be moved to Watson Chapel High School.[2]

As of 2016, Coleman Elementary occupies the campus.[3] Earnest C. Smith, a guidance scientist who developed NASA's lunar rover, at one time taught mathematics at Coleman.[4]

References
  1. "Shoot Out At School Leaves One Man Dead". Northwest Arkansas Times. Associated Press. 1970-04-16. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  2. Franklin, Ben A. (1971-02-06). "Court Warns Arkansas Board to Integrate Schools". The New York Times. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  3. "Coleman High School 1915 to 1971". Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  4. "WINGCOM WATCHDOG (WW)". 25 July 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2018.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.