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ACHIEVEMENT DESPITE SEGREGATION: AFRICAN AMERICAN SCHOOLS
The public school stood with family and church as the foundation for African American institutions under "Jim Crow". Between 1890 and 1920, the illiteracy rate for African Americans in Kansas declined from 32.8% to 8.8%.
Dance at Topeka High School, 1940's. Topeka High School dance

In Kansas high schools, social activities were segregated by color.
Courtesy Merrill Ross Collection, Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.
In smaller cities in Kansas African American neighborhoods frequently had their own schools. Plaza School in Ft. Scott and Douglas School in Manhattan were built about 1900.
Courtesy Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County, Riley County Historical Society, and Kansas State Historical Society.
Plaza School
Plaza School

Douglas School
Douglas School

Sumner High School, Kansas City, KS science class

Sumner High School in Kansas City, Kansas, the first and only African American High School in the state, 1906-1978, was established by special legislation.
Science Class at Sumner High School at 1920.
Sumner High School, Kansas City, KS orchestra

Sumner High School council minutes

Summer High School Second Orchestra, 1918.
Sumner High School Student Council Minutes, 1931-32.
Courtesy Sumner High School Alumni Association Collection, Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.
Washington School
Washington School, one of four all black elementary schools in Topeka, occupied this new building in 1910.
Courtesy Kansas State Historical Society.
Baseball schedule
Baseball Schedule.
Courtesy Josephine Brice Collection, Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.
Monroe School Eighth Grade Graduation Program, 1929
Monroe School Eighth Grade Graduation Program, Topeka, Kansas, 1929.
Courtesy Allabelle Napue Collection, Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.
Kindergarten Class, Buchanan School, Topeka, 1923
Kindergarten Class, Buchanan School, Topeka, 1923.
Loan from Ardenia Brown, Kansas Collection, University of Kansas Libraries.

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All contents © 1996, Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research. All Rights Reserved.
Created: February 17, 1996.
URL: http://brownvboard.org/trvlexbt/pnl06/pnl06.htm.