PRINTThe Education of Segregation
Douglass School opened as the only black school in Columbia, but it has transitioned through the years.
September 24, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
1865
Missouri General Assembly allows blacks to attend school.
Crica 1887
Columbia begins a high school program for black students.
- Scenes from the Providence Bowl
- Fast times at Hickman High
- Tech-savvy students
- The young and the reckless
- Rumors and realities
- Overcoming obstacles
- The spread
- Lifelong leaders
- Edged out
- Roosters, cows and mice, oh my!
- Crosstown competition
- Playing the field
- Say what?
- Where are they now?
- On the Job: High School Custodians
- After-school alliance
- Rival Survival
- Through the Years
- High school mascots go head to head
1898
After several location changes, the name of the school for blacks becomes Frederick Douglass School. The school has 46 students and only one teacher.
1903
Douglass becomes a three-year high school program.
1916
Columbia voters approve constructing a new building for Douglass with 15 rooms and a library.
1927
Douglass adds a gymnasium.
The high school program adds a fourth year and a junior high division.
1935
Douglass receives national accreditation for a four-year program.
1940
The high school football team wins the state championship. The basketball team places third in the state.
1954
The Supreme Court ends segregation in schools. Douglass students transfer to Hickman and the school board phases out the science, math and foreign language classes at Douglass.
1958
Hickman’s first black male athlete, Raymond Hayes, plays basketball and football.
Douglass adds special education classes.
1960
Only 66 high-school students enroll for the 1960-61 school year, so the high-school program ends at Douglass. Hickman has 113 black students enrolled.
Celestine Guyton is the first black student to achieve community-wide recognition for her achievements at Hickman.
1961
Twelve black students play on Hickman athletic teams.
1962
The school board closes the junior high program and moves the nursing and physical therapy programs to Douglass.
1967
Eliot Battle establishes the Continuing Education Program at Douglass for students with special needs, including pregnant girls, students with behavioral problems or those who had dropped out. Hickman special education programs move to Douglass.
1967
Douglass ends its elementary program.
1969
Tony Edwards, a Hickman student, becomes the first black student to be elected to a school-wide office (vice president).
1973
There are 125 students in the Continuing Education Program.
1985
The Secondary Learning Center, a “detention school,” moves to Douglass; it was previously located in a church on North Eighth Street.
1989
A daycare center is added to Douglass for the Secondary Learning Center students.
1992
Douglass becomes a school for students who do not do well in the traditional classroom environment. It includes more hands-on programs.
The Secondary Learning Center changes its name back to Douglass High School. Douglass becomes an accredited high school once again.
1993
The school mascot becomes the bulldog.
1994
Satellite programs for students to gain experiences in different professions are created at the Columbia Daily Tribune.
1995
Douglass graduates its first class since it regained accreditation. Twenty-two students graduate and six receive scholarships.
1996
This year see the grand opening of Between the Pages, a deli sponsored by Missouri Book Services and Schnucks.
1997
Missouri Cotton Exchange helps with the screen-printing program.
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