A brief history of the arts legends who got their start at Sumner High School
Local leaders are scheduled to meet again in March to discuss closing the first African-American high school west of the Mississippi River.
Sumner High School, ca. 1908
The latest round of proposed closures for Saint Louis Public Schools has targeted one of the most historic high schools in America: Sumner High School, the first African-American high school west of the Mississippi River. Iâve written about Sumner High School in the equally historic Ville neighborhood in the past, but I feel like itâs worth revisiting the hallowed halls of this âpalace of education,â as I called it before. The closure of Sumner would leave the Ville neighborhood with no public schools, as far as I can tell. (The St. Louis School Board will meet again in March to decide whether to close the school.) And the 122-year-old building is not just another âagingâ or âobsoleteâ structu
photo by: Mike Yoder/Journal-World File Photo
In this file photo from February 2011, Jesse Milan, the first Black teacher in Lawrence, talks to a fifth-grade social studies class at Prairie Park Elementary School.
Jesse Milan, a pioneering Black educator in Lawrence schools, Baker University professor and former president of the Kansas branches of the NAACP, earned a bookcase of awards and honors during his life, but his son said one was very special to his father.
“In 2004, President George W. Bush named him to the presidential commission planning the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education,” Jesse Milan Jr. said Friday of his father, who died Feb. 8. “That was a great honor.”
From Jim Crow South to Connecticut, Meriden man has spent lifetime battling racism
From Jim Crow South to Connecticut, Meriden man has spent lifetime battling racism
William Woods at his residence in Meriden, Fri., Jul. 31, 2020. Dave Zajac, Record-Journal Advertisement
William Woods, now 92, poses for a photo at his residence in Meriden last July. Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
A late 1950s photo of William and Eloise Woods with sons Glenn and Lee. Photo courtesy of William Woods
The Apostolic Community Church of Jesus and Ministries, formerly Augustana Lutheran Church at 144 Center St., Meriden, Thurs., Aug. 6, 2020. The Augustana Lutheran Church parsonage served as a temporary home for the family of William Woods. Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
Published February 8, 2021 at 3:30 PM CST Listen
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The World Chess Hall of Fame s most recent exhibition, “Masterminds: Chess Prodigies, explores the stories of chess prodigies from past to present.
St. Louis native Leroy Muhammad started playing competitive chess at 16 years old. In 1966, while attending Sumner High School, he tied for first in the 265-player Eastern Open held in Washington, D.C. After that, he won the top junior prize at the U.S. Open in Seattle. He eventually became one of the first Black chess masters in the U.S.
“Young people really do have dominance in the game,” said Emily Allred, curator at the World Chess Hall of Fame. She joined
Originally published on February 8, 2021 8:27 pm
St. Louis native Leroy Muhammad started playing competitive chess at 16 years old. In 1966, while attending Sumner High School, he tied for first in the 265-player Eastern Open held in Washington, D.C. After that, he won the top junior prize at the U.S. Open in Seattle. He eventually became one of the first Black chess masters in the U.S.
“Young people really do have dominance in the game,” said Emily Allred, curator at the World Chess Hall of Fame. She joined
St. Louis on the Air on Monday to discuss Muhammad’s story.