Booker T. Washington High School (Tennessee)

{{Infobox school

| name = Booker T. Washington High School

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| motto = We're tops! We lead and others follow.

| established = 1873 (built)-1926 (rebuilt)

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| former_name = Clay Street School

| type = Public secondary

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| affiliations = Shelby County Schools

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| principal = Alicia Kiner

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| enrollment = 477 (2022-23){{cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=4700148&ID=470014801016|title=B. T. Washington High|publisher=National Center for Education Statistics|access-date=August 23, 2024}}

| grades_label =

| grades = 9-12

| streetaddress = 715 South Lauderdale Street

| city = Memphis

| state = Tennessee

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| country = USA

| coordinates = {{Coord|35.127821|-90.045078|region:US-TN_type:edu|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

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| district = Memphis City Schools

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| campus = Urban

| colors = {{color box|green}} {{color box|gold}}

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| mascot = Warrior

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| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20080512201501/http://www.mcsk12.net/schools/btwashington.hs/site/index.shtml BTWHS Website]

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| picture = 250px

| picture_caption = Eastern facade with main entrance from South Lauderdale Street

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| picture_caption2 = Eastern facade with main entrance from South Lauderdale Street

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Booker T Washington High School (also known as BTW){{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/barack-obama-gives-keynote-address-at-memphis-high-school-views-flood-damage-and-meets-ncaa-champs/2011/05/16/AFYJcm5G_story.html|title=Barack Obama gives keynote address at Memphis high school, views flood damage, and meets NCAA champs|last=Flock|first=Elizabeth|date=May 17, 2011|work=The Washington Post|access-date=May 18, 2011}} is a public secondary school located north of Downtown Memphis, on the southside of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The school was administered by the Memphis City Schools system, until the beginning of the 2013-14 year, it was served by the Shelby County Schools district. It serves grades 9-12. The school gained national attention when U.S. President Barack Obama delivered the school's 2011 commencement address as a reward for winning the 2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge.

History

The school was founded as the Clay Street School in 1873 and was among the first public high schools for African Americans in Memphis.{{cite web|url=http://memphistechhigh.com/blackeducation.html|title=Early Black Education in Memphis|publisher=Booker T. Washington Class of 1966|access-date=May 17, 2011}} Green Polonius Hamilton was its principal. It was renamed Kortrecht High School in 1891.

In 1926 a new building was constructed and the school was renamed in honor of American educator and civil rights leader Booker T. Washington.{{cite web|url=http://memphistechhigh.com/kortrecht/photos.html|title=Kortrecht High School Historic Items and Photos|publisher=memphistechhigh.com|access-date=May 17, 2011}}{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/16/MNPF1JGRNA.DTL|title=Obama hails high school graduates in Memphis|last=Kuhnhenn|first=Jim|date=May 17, 2011|publisher=Associated Press|access-date=May 17, 2011}} Further expansions were completed in the years since, including the Blair T. Hunt Gymnasium, dedicated in 1950.{{cite web|url=http://m.commercialappeal.com/photos/galleries/booker-t-washington-high-school-through-years/39267/|title=BOOKER T. WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL: THROUGH THE YEARS|work=The Commercial Appeal|publisher=Scripps Interactive Newspaper Group|access-date=May 18, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006193550/http://m.commercialappeal.com/photos/galleries/booker-t-washington-high-school-through-years/39267/|archive-date=October 6, 2011}}

Race to the Top

The school entered and won the 2011 Race to the Top Commencement Challenge, a competition that "invites public high schools across the country to demonstrate how their school best prepares [students] for college and a career."{{cite web|title=Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/commencement|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=May 17, 2011}} Among the required application materials were student essays and videos that demonstrated the school's innovation in education. The accomplishments of the school included increasing graduation rates from 55% in 2007 to 82% in 2010 through the use of same-gender freshman classrooms and increased teacher effectiveness.{{cite web|url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/16/president-visits-memphis-high-school-graduation/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518061046/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/16/president-visits-memphis-high-school-graduation/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 18, 2011|title=President visits Memphis High School graduation|last=Holland|first=Sally|work=CNN.com|access-date=May 16, 2011}} BTW also suffered from and overcame high teen pregnancy and violence rates.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/09/commencement.challenge/|title=3 high schools vie to get Obama for commencement|last=Holland|first=Sally|date=May 9, 2011|work=CNN.com|access-date=May 18, 2011}} The school beat out more than 450 other applicant schools, and as a reward for this achievement, President Barack Obama delivered the school's 2011 commencement speech.{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/05/16/president-obama-booker-t-washington-high-commencement-challenge-winners|work=whitehouse.gov|title=President Obama at Booker T. Washington High: Commencement Challenge Winners|via=National Archives|access-date=May 17, 2011}}

Notable alumni

Johnny Ace - Memphis, R&B singer
J. Blackfoot - Memphis soul singer, member of The Soul Children, best known for his hit song "Taxi"
The Bar-Kays - Memphis soul, R&B, and funk band formed in 1966
Marion Barry - mayor of Washington, D.C.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/dc/barry/87prof.htm|title=Marion Barry Just Wants to Be Loved|last=Brisbane|first=Arthur S.|date=April 26, 1987|work=The Washington Post|page=W20|access-date=May 17, 2011}}
Harvey Branch - professional baseball player{{cite news |title=Sheriff's Attorney Selected; Executive Assistant Picked |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-memphis-press-scimitar-sheriffs-att/148590912/ |access-date=6 June 2024 |work=The Memphis Press-Scimitar |date=3 February 1976 |pages=25}}
Lucie Campbell - evangelist and songwriter
W. W. Herenton - first African-American mayor of Memphis
George W. Haley - lawyer, politician, public official, and ambasador
Benjamin Hooks - American civil rights leader and executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Verdell Mathis - Negro league baseball player{{cite web|url=http://www.coe.ksu.edu/nlbemuseum/history/players/mathis.html|title=Verdell Mathis|year=2006|publisher=Negro Leagues Baseball Museum|access-date=May 18, 2011}}
The Mad Lads - Memphis soul, R&B, Stax recording vocal group formed at Booker T. Washington High School in 1965
Booker T. Jones - American musician and leader of Booker T & The MGs
David Porter (musician) - Stax Records songwriter of many '60s and '70s hits, including Soul Man for Sam & Dave
Maxine Smith - academic, civil rights activist, and school board official{{cite web | title = Maxine A. Smith NAACP Collection | publisher = Digital Library of Georgia | url = http://crdl.usg.edu/collections/smithnaacp/?Welcome | access-date =December 7, 2016}}
Oscar Reed - American professional football player who played running back eight seasons for the Minnesota Vikings from 1968-1974
Judge Russell B. Sugarmon, Jr. - civil rights attorney and Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
Rufus Thomas - Stax Records writer and performer
Fred Valentine - Major League Baseball outfielder{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/7739be3f|title=Fred Valentine - Society for American Baseball Research|website=sabr.org}}
Maurice White - founder of soul and R&B hitmakers Earth, Wind and Fire
Lorenzen Wright - professional basketball player{{cite web|url=https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/11/29/memphis-lorenzen-wright-killing-sherra-wright-billy-ray-turner-trial-date-set/2115530002/|title=With trial date set in death of NBA player Lorenzen Wright, his mother now can 'breathe'|website=The Commercial Appeal}}

References

External links

{{Commons category|Booker T. Washington High School (Memphis, Tennessee)}}

[https://web.archive.org/web/20080512201501/http://www.mcsk12.net/schools/btwashington.hs/site/index.shtml BTWHS Website]

Category:African-American history in Memphis, Tennessee

Category:Public high schools in Tennessee

Category:High schools in Memphis, Tennessee

Category:Historically segregated African-American schools in Tennessee