Sumner High School (St. Louis)

Sumner High School
Sumner High School and football field, October 2012
Location
Map
4248 Cottage Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri 63113

United States
Coordinates38°39′35″N 90°14′21″W / 38.6597°N 90.2391°W / 38.6597; -90.2391
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1875
School districtSt. Louis Public Schools
NCES School ID2929280
PrincipalDr. Sean Nichols
Faculty26.3 FTEs
Grades9-12
Enrollment267 (as of 2018–19)
Student to teacher ratio10.2:1
Color(s)Maroon and White
Athletics conferencePublic High League
NicknameBulldogs
PublicationThe Collegiate (defunct)
WebsiteSchool website
Charles Sumner High School
Location4248 W. Cottage Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri
Area5.5 acres (2.2 ha)
Built1908 (1908)
ArchitectWilliam B. Ittner
Architectural styleColonial Revival
Georgian Revival
NRHP reference No.88000469
Added to NRHPApril 19, 1988

Sumner High School is a St. Louis public high school that was the first high school for African-American students west of the Mississippi River in the United States. Together with Vashon High School, Sumner was one of only two public high schools in St. Louis City for African-American students and was segregated. Established in 1875 only after extensive lobbying by some of St. Louis' African-American residents, Sumner moved to its current location in 1908. It has historically also been known as Charles H. Sumner High School, and Sumner Stone High School.

As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 267 students and 26.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.2:1. There were 264 students (98.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 0 (0.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

History

Charlton Tandy led protests of the planned siting of Sumner High School in a heavily polluted area in close proximity to a lead works, lumber and tobacco warehouses, and the train station as well as brothels. He said that black students deserved clean and quiet schools the same way white students do. The location went unchanged, and Sumner High opened in 1875, the first high school opened for African Americans west of the Mississippi. The school is named after the well-known abolitionist senator Charles H. Sumner. The high school was established on Eleventh Street in St. Louis between Poplar and Spruce Street, in response to demands to provide educational opportunities, following a requirement that school boards support black education after Republicans passed the "radical" Constitution of 1865 in Missouri that also abolished slavery.

The school was moved in the 1880s because parents complained that their children were walking past the city gallows and morgue on their way to school.

Cottage Avenue campus

The current structure, built in 1908, was designed by architect William B. Ittner. Sumner was the only Black public high school in St. Louis City until the opening of Vashon High School in 1927. Famous instructors included Herman Dreer, Edward Bouchet and Charles H. Turner.

Other later Black high schools in St. Louis County were Douglass High School (opened in 1925) and Kinloch High School (1936).

In 2009, St. Louis Public School Superintendent Kevin Adams proposed several options with students and parents of how to deal with the problems of the school. He recommended improvements including using Sumner alumni to mentor current students, transferring troublesome students to different schools, and setting achievable goals for the school year.

Shootings

On March 18, 1975, two students got in a fight and one of the students tried to shoot the other but missed and killed 16-year-old bystander Stephen Goods.

On March 25, 1993, female student Lawanda Jackson shot and killed her ex-boyfriend Tony Hall in a school hallway. Jackson was convicted of first-degree murder and armed criminal action and was sentenced to life without parole.

On October 10, 1996, 17-year-old Lamon Jones was shot and killed by 15-year-old Kembert Thomas during a fight among several students. Thomas was convicted of second-degree murder.

Sumner Normal School (1890–1954)

In 1890, a normal school was opened at the high school, in order to train more teachers. In its early years the normal school was known as the Cottage Avenue School, and it was located on Cottage Avenue and Pendleton. It also went by the name Sumner Normal School. In 1929, its name was changed to Stowe Teachers College (which later merged to form Harris–Stowe State University), after author Harriet Beecher Stowe and it existed in the former Simmons Colored School campus from 1930 until 1940. The normal school closed in 1954 in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling school segregation to be unconstitutional.

Athletics

Sumner High's mascot is the Bulldog. Sumner's 1969 basketball team won the Missouri Class L state championship and featured future NBA and ABA players Harry Rogers and Marshall Rogers, as well as David Brent who was a 6th round draft pick for the Los Angeles Lakers. Sports that are currently offered are football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, track and field, tennis, and soccer.

Notable alumni


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