Booker T. Washington High School

John T. West High School, one of Virginia's first accredited public high schools for African Americans, was renamed in 1917 for Booker T. Washington, educator, author, and orator. The school moved to a newly constructed building in 1924 and for decades was Norfolk’s only public high school for black students. Its programs were central to the community. In 1939-1940, faculty members Aline Black and Melvin Alston pursued legal action that led to a federal court decision requiring salary equalization for black and white teachers. In Sept. 1963, students marched to protest poor facilities. Norfolk implemented a desegregation plan in 1970, and the school moved into a new building here in 1974.

Department of Historic Resources, 2018