Attention teachers and kids in all 39 counties: the Washington Secretary of State’s office has launched a new place name contest. Entries are due by Sunday, May 15.
South Sound high school to be renamed for 94-year-old Tacoma educator Deborah Horne
Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma will soon have a new name. It will be the first school in Tacoma ever named for a Black woman.
That woman is a true trailblazer, 94-year-old Dr. Dolores Silas.
In her nearly 95 years, Dr. Silas has lived a life of many firsts.
“I was president of the Tacoma branch of the NAACP,” said Dr. Silas. “I was president of the Northwest area NAACP. I was first Black (person) on the Pierce County Health Board.”
But even before all of that, she was the first Black administrator in the Tacoma school district, then went on to be the first Black woman on the Tacoma City Council, then its first Black Deputy Mayor.