EDUCATION In 1845, a Catholic school for black girls was opened, but it closed after a year due to public outcry at the education of African Americans. In 1846, Missouri passed a law that criminalized teaching African Americans to read and write. In response, it is said that John Berry Meachum, a pastor of the First Baptist Church and an ex-slave, began to teach African Americans on a barge in the Mississippi River; the river was federally owned, and so he could circumvent the state law. In 1875, St. Louis’s first high school for African American students was founded due to a requirement in the Missouri Constitution of 1865 that school boards support black education as well as white education. Sumner High School, originally located at 11th and Spruce, was named after the Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner, a famed champion of civil rights and emancipation. Sumner High School was the first African American high school west of the Mississippi and was viewed by many as one of the best such high schools in the country. Many parents from outside the city would send their children to live with relations in St. Louis just to attend Sumner. St. Louis Public Schools were officially desegregated only in 1954, more than 75 years after the founding of Sumner. Sumner Alums • Margaret Bush Wilson—civil right activist, NAACP leader • Chuck Berry—rock pioneer • Freeman Bosley Sr.—St. Louis alderman • Dick Gregory—comedian and activist • Grace Bumbry—Opera singer • Tina Turner—singer and actress • Arthur Ashe—tennis legend
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 18:06:51 +0000
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