Sumner High School and Community Identity

• In Event: Roundtable Session 66
  In Roundtable Session: Topics in African American Education During the Postwar Era

Abstract

This paper considers the role teachers played in creating a community and fostering an achievement culture at Sumner High School, a segregated school in Kansas City, Kansas that operated from 1905 to 1978. I argue that while the nature of segregation created achievement barriers for African Americans, Sumner as a segregated institution bolstered school and community identity and because of strong leadership, the school ultimately produced successful black graduates. This study demonstrates that Sumner High School served as a source of both pride and ambivalence for Kansas City, Kansas.
As the only segregated black high school in Kansas, Sumner acted as a reminder of racial tensions and unequal opportunities in Kansas City. However, as an excellent school with highly qualified teachers, motivated principals, and strong connections with the community it served, Sumner proved that the black community of Kansas City, Kansas could create an impressive institution from unfortunate beginnings. By analyzing census and school enrollment data, the study also shows that Sumner played a vital role in the black community in Kansas City, Kansas as the only high school African-American students could attend.
Eventually, Sumner was closed and re-opened as a magnet school in 1978 in order to satisfy federal demands that the Kansas City, Kansas school district desegregate. While the black community protested the loss of their school, the irony in the ending of Sumner is that the most vociferous opponents to its closing were the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who fought against its formation. In its seventy years of operation, Sumner transformed itself from an imposition upon African Americans to a boon for the black community.
The bulk of the research for this paper comes from the Sumner Collection at the Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas, which consists of course listings, school histories, personal records from two different principals, student works, honor rolls, PTA records, and federal science grant applications. The Sumner Collection also houses The Sumnerian, Sumner High’s yearbook—for most years between 1911 and 1978, which proved instrumental in the formation of the study. This paper is also results from research of census records for Kansas City, Kansas from 1880 to 2000, as well as school enrollment records for the Kansas City, Kansas school district.

Author

• Aaron Rife, The University of Kansas