Name/Title
Old Stanton High School MarkerEntry/Object ID
2020.9.2596.aDescription
Old Stanton" High School
This magnificent building was built in 1917 after the Great Fire of 1901. It replaced an earlier structure on the same site (pictured on right). The school was named for Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, who was instrumental in creation of the Freedmen's Bureau. Stanton High School, founded as a grade school for African-Americans after the Civil War, was expanded into the first public high school for blacks by it dynamic principal, James Weldon Johnson. After the school was destroyed in the Great Fire, Principal Johnson fought for the school to be replaced by this all-brick structure, and for its replacement to have the same priority as the similarly destroyed replacement all-white school. Through his legal expertise, Johnson also prevented Stanton from being moved or combined with other schools. New Stanton High School was moved to its current location on 13th Street in 1953, where it continues as one of the highest-ranking schools on the country. This building was briefly a vocational school.Collection
Photographs CollectionLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
Photograph, ColorNomenclature Primary Object Term
PhotographNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication Objects