Dunbar Grade School

 

          

        Built in 1922 at Front & Elm.  It is now the St. Francis Academy.  The photo on the right was taken in 2004.
 

     We have no grade school photos from Dunbar to show on this web site, but there is a Dunbar School Alumni Association tat used to have its own nifty web site at http://dunbarschoolsalina.org/  Last time I tried this it didn't seem to exist any more.  Here is a quote from that site about the history of the school.

 

 

          Dunbar School -- 1922-1955 

 

     Dunbar School was established in 1922 by the Salina Board of Education as a modern facility which served black children from kindergarten through the eighth grade. All Salina schools had previously been integrated. Under the General Statutes of Kansas 1879 and Kansas School Laws 1919-1920, cities of the first class, with population of 15,000, were authorized to maintain separate schools for the education of white and black elementary school children. A special election was held on January 25, 1921, that provided school bonds for the site and erection of the school at 509 E. Elm. 

     Named for the African-American poet and author, Paul Laurence Dunbar, the school opened with six black teachers and a principal. The high school in Salina remained integrated as completion of Dunbar marked the advent of segregation at early education levels. Recognized for creative musical events, Dunbar students and faculty inspired and supported cultural development in the community. Robert C. Caldwell, a former Dunbar teacher and principal, later served three terms as Salina's first black mayor and was subsequently elected to the state legislature.

     In 1951, the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka case challenged the "separated but equal" system in Kansas elementary school. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court found separate school violated the 14th amendment to the Constitution. Soon after, Dunbar with several similar schools in Kansas and twenty other states, became integrated. Dunbar School closed in 1955 with declining enrollment. The St. Francis Academy purchased the building in 1958.