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Please note The Museum of the Reconstruction Era will be closed for house tours Wednesday, Feb. 1 - Friday, Feb. 3 due to garden renovations, and the Robert Mills House will be closed for tours on Thursday, Feb. 2 due to a private event on site.

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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.

  • Proud members of the 1955 football team show their school spirit.  Image courtesy Booker T. Washington High School Foundation

    Proud members of the 1955 football team show their school spirit. Image courtesy Booker T. Washington High School Foundation

  • Booker T. Washington High School, 1956. Image courtesy Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

    Booker T. Washington High School, 1956. Image courtesy Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

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Historic Columbia

© 2023 Historic Columbia

Administrative Offices
1601 Richland Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Tours
All historic house and garden tours start at the Gift Shop at Robert Mills.
1616 Blanding Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Questions? Call (803) 252-7742.

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