The first-ever Georgia high school to serve Black students got its flowers in an elaborate centennial celebration hosted in the atrium of Atlanta City Hall last week.
Dozens of Booker T. Washington High School alumni gathered on Sept. 16 to pay homage to the Atlanta school’s 100-year history, which includes graduating icons like Martin Luther King Jr. and Lena Horne and educating scores of students who at one point had no academic alternatives due to legalized segregation.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams said she found it important to preserve that legacy when she submitted Washington’s history into congressional record, where it will live in perpetuity.
“It’s a momentous day for Washington,” Williams said. “And we want to remember this day for the next 100 years.”
The ceremony included performances by the BTW marching band and a viewing of These Halls Can Talk, a video franchise that touts the storied institution’s impact on the world.
“Booker T. Washington High School is more than a school,” the clip’s narrator says. “It is a legacy that echoes reminders of our freedom, our creativity, our excellence, our dignity, our independence, our self-respect, and our immeasurable intelligence.”
Washington, named for the famed Black educator and leader Booker T. Washington, has a rich history that dates back to its founding. When the school opened its doors in September 1924 to meet the educational needs of African American students during the Jim Crow era, it became Atlanta’s first and only Black public secondary school until 1947.
Notable graduates span diverse areas of influence, across politics (Atlanta City Council member Byron Amos; Leroy Johnson, the first Black state senator in Georgia since Reconstruction), business (entrepreneurial pioneer Herman J. Russell), the arts (Horne, Dominique “Lil Baby” Jones, opera trailblazer Mattiwilda Dobbs), sports (Negro Leagues baseball legend James “Red” Moore), health care (Dr. Asa Yancey Sr., Dr. Louis Sullivan), and civil rights (King).
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who is an Atlanta Public Schools alum, credited Washington for creating the prototype for Black brilliance in the city’s educational landscape.
“Everything we know when it comes to educating Black minds comes from Washington,” Dickens said at last week’s ceremony. “Washington is the blueprint, and their contributions to producing Black excellence can never be underscored.”
In the 1970s, due to a broad desegregation movement, Washington High faced challenges, including declining enrollment, which has remained an issue.
Washington was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In recent years, it has undergone significant renovations, including updates to the cafeteria and the gymnasium. The school still stands at its original site in West End, just yards away from the Atlanta University Center.
Atlanta Council member Amos, whose son Sir also graduated from Washington, said the celebration is a culmination of continued love and support for the school he says was instrumental in paving the way for his own course.
“I would be a different person if I didn’t attend Washington,” Amos said. “Our culture, our community, is powerful. That’s why I will always be proud to say I am a product of APS, and even prouder to say I am a product of Washington.”
