Booker T. Washington High School: A Living History (1950 - Present)

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 11:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Black Educational Strivings: Boyhood, Resistance, and Living History

Abstract

This paper discusses my work on Booker T. High School in Norfolk, Virginia. Booker T. Washington High School served as Norfolk’s only public high school for Black students, and continues to operate today as a desegregated school. From its inception, until the 1970s, Booker T. consisted completely of Black students, parents, educators and administrators. While the demographics have shifted since then, the school still serves a predominantly Black student body. This makes it worthwhile to examine the legacy of Booker T. as an all-Black high school, and the ways in which this legacy has transitioned with the school as a now desegregated space.

Author

• Trayc D. Freeman, University of Virginia