Sumner High School (St. Louis)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sumner High School | |
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| Location | |
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| 4248 Cottage Avenue St. Louis, MO 63113 |
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| Coordinates | 38°39′35″N 90°14′21″W / 38.6597°N 90.2391°WCoordinates: 38°39′35″N 90°14′21″W / 38.6597°N 90.2391°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Established | 1875 |
| School district | St. Louis Public Schools |
| Principal | Sherman Curtis |
| Faculty | 77.0 (on FTE basis)[1] |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,193 (as of 2005-06)[1] |
| Student:teacher ratio | 15.5[1] |
| Color(s) | Maroon and white |
| Nickname | Bulldogs |
| Publication | The Collegiate (defunct) |
| Information | 314-371-1048 |
| Website | School website |
Sumner High School, also known as Charles E. Sumner High School, is a St. Louis public high school that was the first high school for African-American students west of the Mississippi River. Together with Vashon High School, Sumner was one of the two segregated public high schools in St. Louis for African-American students. Established in 1875 only after extensive lobbying by some of St. Louis' African-American residents, Sumner moved to its current location in 1908.
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[edit] Population
As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,193 students and 77.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 15.5.[1]
[edit] School mission
The mission of the school states purpose to be responsive to the academic, social, civic, and developmental needs of their students, "including training them to be successful, functioning graduates," so that they can make worthy "contributions to themselves, their families, school and community in today’s global society."[2]
[edit] History
Summer High, opened in 1875, and was the first high school opened for African-Americans west of the Mississippi.[3][4] The school is named after the well-known abolitionist senator Charles E. Sumner.[5] The high school was established on Eleventh Street in St. Louis between Poplar and Spruce Street, in response to demands to provide educational opportunities, following a requirement that school boards support black education with The Radical Constitution of 1865 in Missouri.[6] The school was moved in the 1880s because because parents complained that their children were walking past the gallows on their way to school.[5] Sumner was the only Black public high school in St. Louis until 1927.[5]. Famous instructors include Edward Bouchet[1]
[edit] Notable alumni
- Arthur Ashe (1943-1993), tennis player.[3]
- Chuck Berry (1926-), musician.[7]
- Grace Bumbry (1937-), opera singer.[3]
- Hon. William Clay (1931-), politician
- Billy Davis, Jr. (1940-), The Fifth Dimension
- Dick Gregory (1932-), comedian.[8]
- Robert Guillaume (1927-), actor known for portraying the character Benson DuBois on the ABC sitcom Soap and its spinoff Benson.
- Robert McFerrin (1921-2006), opera singer and father of Bobby McFerrin.[9]
- Wendell O. Pruitt (1920-1945) pioneering military pilot and Tuskegee Airman in whose honor the notorious Pruitt-Igoe housing projects were named.[10]
- Tina Turner (1939-), musician.[3]
- Rev. Steven G. Thompson-Sr (1945-), Senior Pastor/Teacher at the Historic Leonard Missionary Baptist Church of St. Louis, MO
- Oliver Lake, jazz musician
- Robert McFerrin, singer
- Baikida Carroll, trumpeter and composer
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Sumner High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 12, 2007.
- ^ "St. Louis Public Schools, "Sumner MEGA High School"". http://locations.slps.org/location.asp?RecordID=5E575F&LocName=Sumner%20MEGA%20High%20School. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ a b c d "TRAVEL ADVISORY; Black History in St. Louis", The New York Times, May 10, 1992. Accessed December 11, 2007. "Sumner High School, the first school west of the Mississippi for blacks, established in 1875 (among graduates are Grace Bumbry, Arthur Ashe and Tina Turner)..."
- ^ Charles Sumner H.S., an American Black academic beginning
- ^ a b c 130 Years of Sumner High School (St. Louis)
- ^ Primm, James Neal. (1998). Lion of the Valley: St. Louis, Missouri, 1764-1980. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society.
- ^ Weinraub, Bernard. "Sweet Tunes, Fast Beats and a Hard Edge", The New York Times, February 23, 2003. Accessed December 11, 2007. "A significant moment in his early life was a musical performance in 1941 at Sumner High School, which had a middle-class black student body."
- ^ Dick Gregory , AEI Speakers Bureau. Accessed December 11, 2007. " A track star at Sumner High School, Gregory earned an athletic scholarship in 1951 to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and became the first member of his family to attend college. "
- ^ Robert McFerrin Sr. (1921–2006), Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Accessed December 12, 2007. "His father arranged for him to attend Sumner High School in St. Louis, Missouri. McFerrin intended to become an English teacher but changed his career plans after he joined the high school choir and received his first formal music instruction under chorus director Wirt Walton."
- ^ Young St. Louis. Accessed July 28, 2008. "Wendell Pruitt was a Sumner High School graduate who was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen."
