530 Marion Street
Site of Booker T. Washington High School
Booker T. Washington School opened in 1916 and became a high school in 1918, graduating its first class the next year. As Columbia’s only high school for African Americans, it attracted students from all over the state. It produced thousands of graduates who distinguished themselves in a wide array of professional fields in communities across the country.
Due in part to school desegregation, the school closed in 1974 and was sold to the University of South Carolina, which immediately tore down the main classroom building and used its bricks to line the driveway of the campus’s historic Horseshoe. Continued expansion led to the demolition of all the school’s buildings except its auditorium. The school’s legacy is maintained through the efforts of the Booker T. Washington High School Foundation.
The school produced thousands of graduates who distinguished themselves in a wide array of professional fields in communities across the country. Prominent alumni include civil rights attorney Lincoln C. Jenkins, Jr., federal judge Matthew James Perry, Jr., and educator Fannie Phelps Adams.
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Proud members of the 1955 football team show their school spirit. Image courtesy Booker T. Washington High School Foundation
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Booker T. Washington High School, 1956. Image courtesy Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia
