Chapter 3: The Sumner High School: An Educational Landmark Made by the Black Community

Sumner High School (Sumner) located in St. Louis, Missouri, was the first Black public high school west of the Mississippi River. When St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) delayed opening the high school for a decade, the Missouri General Assembly’s 1875 amendment forced all Missouri school districts to open segregated public high schools. In 1875, SLPS opened a shuttered elementary school building to house Sumner. The former elementary school for White children closed due to the unsavory neighborhood surrounding it. The placement of the high school in a school SLPS did not want White children to attend galvanized the Black community to petition the district for a more desirable location. It took three decades for the district to relent and build a new Black high school in a more desirable location. The example of Black leaders’ social and resistant capital working to provide a proper education for their children modeled for future Black leaders how to challenge White power structures in support of education Black children. The narrative reveals how Black leaders within Sumner and the community collaborated to ensure Black children’s education and future prosperity. Tracing Sumner’s history revealed the collaboration between the community, faculty, and principals created a familylike culture. Faculty cared for students like they were their own as they prepared them for work, college, and life after graduation. They produced some of the finest graduates who went on to become educators, servicemen, scientists, engineers, doctors, and entertainers.