{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = M Street High School | nrhp_type = | image = M Street High School.jpg | caption = | location = 128 M St., NW <br/>Washington, D.C. | coordinates = {{coord|38.9054|-77.0134|region:US-DC_type:edu|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = United States Washington, D.C. | map_caption = Location in Washington, D.C. | area = | built = 1891 | architect = Thomas Entwistle | architecture = Romanesque Revival | designated_nrhp_type = | added = October 23, 1986 | mpsub = | refnum = 86002924<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }} '''M Street High School''', also known as '''Dunbar High School''', is a historic former school building located in the Northwest Quadrant of Washington, D.C. It has been listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites since 1978 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The building escaped demolition with community support and the efforts of preservationists and is now a community center.
==History== The school was founded in 1870 as the '''Washington High School for Colored Youth''',<ref name=dcpreservation>{{cite web|url=http://planning.dc.gov/DC/Planning/Historic+Preservation/Maps+and+Information/Landmarks+and+Districts/Inventory+of+Historic+Sites/Alphabetical+Edition |title=District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites |publisher=DC Preservation |accessdate=2011-11-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701155451/http://www.planning.dc.gov/DC/Planning/Historic%2BPreservation/Maps%2Band%2BInformation/Landmarks%2Band%2BDistricts/Inventory%2Bof%2BHistoric%2BSites/Alphabetical%2BEdition |archivedate=2011-07-01 }}</ref> also called '''Washington High School'''.<ref name=Episcopal>{{cite news |title=Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, 1858-1964 |publisher=Archives of the Episcopal Church |url=https://episcopalarchives.org/church-awakens/exhibits/show/leadership/lay/cooper |accessdate=January 6, 2019}}</ref>
Between 1870 and 1891 the school was located in several makeshift locations. In 1890, Congress appropriated $112,000 to build a permanent school and the building on M Street was then designed by Thomas Entwistle from the Office of Building Inspector and built from 1890–1891.<ref name="stewart-legacy">{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Alison |title=First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America's First Black Public High School |year=2013 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1-61374-009-5 |pages=25–37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cBmR9_px9xkC |language=en}}</ref><ref name="robinson-1984">{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=Henry S. |title=The M Street High School, 1891-1916 |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. |date=1984 |volume=51 |pages=119–143 |jstor=40067848 |issn=0897-9049}}</ref>
It was one of the nation's first high schools for African Americans and represents an important development of Washington's education system. The African American community had to fight for quality education in the city. The dual school system created disparities in facilities, grounds, architectural design and size. However, the school provided a rigorous curriculum and an extraordinary faculty because of the limited professional opportunities for African Americans. Principals at the school included Francis L. Cardozo, Sr., Robert H. Terrell and Anna J. Cooper. Among the many teachers was Carter G. Woodson who taught French, Spanish, English, and history, and Christian Fleetwood, a recipient of the Medal of Honor. The school produced a high percentage of college graduates, sending graduates to Harvard, Yale, and Brown, among other places, and its alumni included many prominent educators and public figures.<ref name= dcpreservation/><ref name=Episcopal/><ref name="anna-julia-cooper">{{cite news |last1=Bates |first1=Karen Grigsby |title=A Child Of Slavery Who Taught A Generation |url=https://wamu.org/story/15/03/12/a_child_of_slavery_who_taught_a_generation/ |work=NPR Morning Edition |publisher=WAMU |date=March 12, 2015 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="robinson-1984"/>
The high school was moved to a new building on a different site in 1916, when it was renamed Dunbar High School after the famous African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.<ref>[http://u.osu.edu/gordon.3/files/2012/06/PRalph-Davis.pdf "The M Street School, 1896-1916," by Ralph Davis and Dr. Beverly Gordon, 2010]</ref> In 1919, the 128 M Street school building became the home of the M Street Junior High School, which was renamed Shaw Junior High School in 1921. Then in 1928, Shaw moved to the Mckinley Manual Technical School building at 7th and Rhode Island Avenue, NW.
From 1929 to 1932, the M Street High School building was used to house students from Cardozo High School. In 1932 it became M Street Junior High School, later named Terrell Junior High School. In 1952 it was renamed again as the Leon L. Perry Middle School, named for a principal, supervising principal and school board member of the black school system from 1914-1945. In 1954 the school was integrated.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Register off Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form for M Street High School|url=http://historicwashington.org/docs/Historic%20Landmark%20Application/Perry%20School.pdf|accessdate=17 June 2016}}</ref> Shortly thereafter it was closed.
The building continued to find new life. In the 1960s it was used as a homeless shelter and food distribution center. In 1978 it was nominated for landmark status. At the time it was slated to be torn down to create a playground for students from nearby Terrell Junior High School, but following the landmark nomination the school board instead decided to preserve it.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Oman|first1=Anne H.|title=Six D.C. Sites Get Landmark Status|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/10/26/six-dc-sites-get-landmark-status/630f89bf-e6c7-46d5-b4ef-0915e5a6af20/|accessdate=17 June 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=26 October 1976}}</ref>
In the 1980s the city tried to sell it to developers, but the local community sought to preserve it as a community asset. In 1986 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 1989, the D.C. school board approved the use of the vacant Perry School for a community service center.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Elder|first1=Charles|title=Residents of Sursum Corda Hold onto a Dream|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1989/02/23/residents-of-sursum-corda-hold-onto-a-dream/a725c990-76bd-4cf6-916b-1ac3a1d4bbd2/|accessdate=17 June 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=23 February 1989}}</ref>
In 1998 the building became home of the Perry School Community Services, Inc, a non-profit health and community service center.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Loose|first1=Cindy|title=A Dream Realized|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1998/12/03/a-dream-realized/50df7738-253e-4ce9-920a-53a145653e4c/|accessdate=17 June 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=3 December 1998}}</ref>
==Notable alumni== * Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (1898-1989) — first African-American to earn a PhD in Economics and the first admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Greg |date=February 23, 2017 |title=A song for Sadie Alexander, a Penn alumna of great esteem |language=en |work=Penn Today |url=https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/song-sadie-alexander-penn-alumna-great-esteem}}</ref>{{r|stewart-legacy|p=97}} * Robert Percy Barnes (1898-1990) — Howard University professor and the first African American person to receive a PhD in chemistry from Harvard University<ref>{{Cite web |title=CCB Spotlight: Robert Percy Barnes, M.S. '31 Ph.D. '33 |url=https://chemistry.harvard.edu/news/ccb-spotlight-robert-percy-barnes-ms-31-phd-33 |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=chemistry.harvard.edu |date=February 21, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> * Julia Evangeline Brooks (1882–1948) — educator, an incorporator of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority{{r|stewart-legacy|p=137}}{{r|robinson-1984|p=135}} * Nannie Helen Burroughs (May 2, 1879 — May 20, 1961) — educator and school founder<ref>{{cite web |title=Nannie Helen Burroughs |url=https://www.nps.gov/people/nannie-helen-burroughs.htm |website=U.S. National Park Service |language=en |date=July 15, 2020}}</ref>{{r|stewart-legacy|p=85}}{{r|robinson-1984|p=134}} * Mary P. Burrill (1881–1946) — playwright, educator<ref>{{cite web |title=Mary P. Burrill |url=https://dcwritershomes.wdchumanities.org/mary-p-burrill/ |website=DC Writers’ Homes |date=21 August 2017}}</ref> * Oscar James Cooper (1888–1972) — physician, co-founder of Omega Psi Phi fraternity * Ford Dabney (1883–1958) — ragtime pianist, composer, jazz band leader{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} * Benjamin O. Davis Sr. (1877–1970) — first African-American U.S. Army general officer<ref>{{cite web |title=Portraits of a City: The Scurlock Photographic Studio |url=https://amhistory.si.edu/archives/scurlock/about_the_scurlocks/notables/Davis.htm |website=National Museum of American History |accessdate=19 August 2020}}</ref>{{r|stewart-legacy|p=155}}{{r|robinson-1984|p=129}} * Eva Beatrice Dykes (1893–1986) — educator, first African-American woman to earn a doctorate<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=DeWitt S. |title=Eva Beatrice Dykes: First African American Woman to Complete PhD Requirements |url=https://spectrummagazine.org/news/2018/eva-beatrice-dykes-first-african-american-woman-complete-phd-requirements |work=Spectrum Magazine |date=December 10, 2018 |language=en}}</ref>{{r|stewart-legacy|p=97}} * Margaret Flagg Holmes (1886-1976) — educator, co-founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority{{r|stewart-legacy|p=137}} * Charles Hamilton Houston (1895–1950) — civil rights attorney<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Hamilton Houston Residence, African American Heritage Trail |url=https://www.culturaltourismdc.org/portal/web/portal%20/charles-hamilton-houston-residence-african-american-heritage-trail |website=Cultural Tourism DC |accessdate=19 August 2020}}</ref>{{r|stewart-legacy|p=158}}{{r|robinson-1984|p=131}} * Sarah Meriwether Nutter (1888–1950) — educator, co-founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority{{r|stewart-legacy|p=137}} * Horatio Nelson Poole (1884–1949) — painter, printmaker, muralist, teacher{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} *Hallie E. Queen (1880s-1940) — writer, teacher, Red Cross worker{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} * Willis Richardson (1889–1977) — playwright<ref>{{cite web |title=Willis Richardson papers |url=http://archives.nypl.org/the/21636 |website=Archives & Manuscripts |publisher=New York Public Library |accessdate=19 August 2020}}</ref> * Hilyard Robinson (1899–1986) — modernist architect<ref>{{cite news |last1=DePaul |first1=Amy |title=Historians' Projects To Honor Architect |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1986/10/16/historians-proects-to-honor-architect/16e6e366-0fb2-4556-aa9f-613cefbd6aad/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=16 October 1986}}</ref>{{r|robinson-1984|p=134}} * Carrie Snowden (1902–1906) — founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority<ref>{{Cite news |date=1906-06-12 |title=In Colored Schools |pages=11 |work=Evening Star |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-in-colored-schools/128858440/ |access-date=2023-07-25 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> * Jean Toomer (1894–1967) — African American poet and novelist commonly associated with the Harlem Renaissance<ref>{{cite web |title=Jean Toomer |url=https://georgiawritershalloffame.org/honorees/jean-toomer |website=Georgia Writers Hall of Fame |accessdate=19 August 2020}}</ref>{{r|stewart-legacy|p=114}} * Ionia Rollin Whipper (1872-1953) - Obsetrician and public health outreach worker * Garnet C. Wilkinson (1879–1969) — educator{{r|robinson-1984|p=127}} * James R. Europe (1880-1919) — African-American ragtime, jazz band leader, arranger, and composer<ref>{{cite news |last1=Badger |first1=Reid |title=JAMES REESE EUROPE 'The Jazz King'; Pioneer: James Reese Europe made it possible for black Americans to be heard and he helped to give the national culture a voice. |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-02-01-1998032001-story.html |work=Baltimore Sun |date=February 1, 1998}}</ref> *Robert C. Weaver (1907-1997) — first African American Cabinet Secretary, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development{{r|stewart-legacy|p=185}}
== Notable faculty ==
* G. David Houston (1880-1940) Professor of English at Howard University *Anna Julia Cooper (1958-1964) Author of A Voice From the South, a treatise on Black women’s political theory <ref>{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=Martha S.|title=Vanguard : how Black women broke barriers, won the vote, and insisted on equality for all|date=2020|isbn=978-1-5416-1861-9|edition=|location=New York, NY|oclc=1135569243}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
Category:School buildings completed in 1891 Category:Romanesque Revival architecture in Washington, D.C. Category:African-American history of Washington, D.C. Category:School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.