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Booker T. Washington High School

Booker T. Washington High School played a dominant role in Dallas' African-American community during most of the twentieth century.

On June 14, 1892, a resolution by the Dallas Board of Education established the first high school for black students. The enrollment at the beginning of the 1892-93 school year was 33: 25 eighth graders, 7 ninth graders, and 1 tenth grader. The high school was located in a new brick building on Hall Street which also housed elementary grades. Wayne Manzilla, a college graduate, was principal.

In 1911 an annex facing Cochran Street was added and named the Dallas Colored High School. The facility remained inadequate, however, and in 1922 the new Booker T. Washington High School opened at 2501 Flora Street. All African-American students in Dallas County attended this school for the next seventeen years, sometimes on half-day schedules in order to accommodate the heavy enrollment. In 1952, Booker T. Washington High School was enlarged and became Booker T. Washington Technical High School. At this time the school offered 132 different courses in 209 classes daily, with a professional staff of 50. In the mid-1970s, the facility was again enlarged to house the Arts Magnet at Booker T. Washington High School. In recognition of its important role in African-American education in Dallas, the building was designated a Dallas City Landmark in the 1980s, the first public school in Dallas to be so honored.