From band practice and football rallies to finals and prom, these are memorable and iconic moments most American high school students experienced. The same can be said for students who attended Central High School and Second Ward High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, both of which opened in 1923.
Central High and Second Ward were extremely important schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, as they were built to fulfill the growing educational needs of Charlotte students in the early twentieth century. With Central High situated along Elizabeth Avenue and Second Ward along Alexander Street, these schools were only a few blocks away from one another, yet they lived along parallel lines due to existing in a segregated society. For a majority of its history, Second Ward High School served Black students and Central High School served White students. It was not until 1957 that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools would integrate Black and White students.
Exactly 100 years after the construction of these buildings, Central High’s facility remains standing as part of the Central Campus of Central Piedmont Community College, while the Second Ward gymnasium and a historical marker plaque are all that remain of Second Ward — physical reminders that serve as testaments to the importance of landmarks preservation.
This exhibition highlights the centennial history of Central High and Second Ward High Schools, showcases and celebrates the memories of its students and alumni groups, and raises awareness about the importance of historical preservation and conversations surrounding this topic.
Thank you to partners from Johnson C. Smith University, UNC-Charlotte, the Second Ward High School National Alumni Foundation, and the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room for their assistance with researching information and the preservation of these important legacies. Additionally, thank you to Cynthia Williams, Vernie Johnson-White, and Randolph White, for loaning Second Ward yearbooks.
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Left: Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Central High School, 1929. (Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection)
Center: Materials from Central High School’s alumni group materials. (Credit: Central Piedmont Archives, CPA.031 - Central High School Collection)
Right: A copy of Central Piedmont Community College: The First Thirty Years 1963-1993 by Carol Timblin. (Courtesy of the Central Piedmont Library)
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Left: Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Second Ward High School, 1929. (Credit: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection.)
Center: Materials related to Second Ward High School and the SWHS National Alumni Foundation. (Courtesy of J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte, Thereasea D. Elder Papers)
Right: A copy of Black America Series: Charlotte, North Carolina by Vermelle Diamond Ely, Grace Hoey Drain, and Amy Rogers. (Courtesy of J. Macias)
Credits
Second Ward High School
Designed by Leonard L. Hunter, Second Ward High School opened in 1923 as the first public high school for Black students in segregated Charlotte. This institution "emerged as an anchor for the neighborhood of Brooklyn."1
In its early years, the school was referred to as Charlotte Colored High School. It served as both a junior and senior high school with curriculum emphasis placed on academic and vocational training.
"By 1966, Second Ward High School had an enrollment of over 1,500 students. Students were recognized for academic and vocational achievements and many became members of the National Honor Society. Second Ward was an accredited high school by the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges."2
Due to urban renewal of the Brooklyn neighborhood, Second Ward's facility was demolished in 1969. All that remains today is the gymnasium, which opened in 1949.
"In Charlotte, as well as most cities in the South, integration meant all-Black schools were closed, torn down, or used for different purposes. A 1967 plan called for Second Ward to be renovated and renamed Metropolitan High. However, after two years of debate, Charlotte's school board voted to close Second Ward and six other Black schools. The students were bused to previously all-White schools to achieve racial integration. In the early '70s, the building was demolished."3
Before its destruction, another all-Black institution — Carver College — operated out of the basement of Second Ward High School, serving Black WWII veterans. It became known as Mecklenburg College in 1961. Two years later, the Central Industrial Education Center (CIEC), located within the halls of Central High School, merged with Mecklenburg College to form Central Piedmont Community College.
Today, while the facility no longer stands, the legacy of Second Ward High School and its alumni live on through the efforts of the Second Ward High School National Alumni Foundation. The Foundation “is dedicated to keeping the school's memory alive and to be a resource in finding and sharing the community's African American Heritage. Since the organization of the Foundation in 1980, a primary mission has been to act as a resource to the community, partners and individuals looking to find people, stories, images and information."4
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Left: The entrance of Second Ward High School, date unknown. (Courtesy of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library)
Center: Postcard of Second Ward High School, undated. (Courtesy of J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte)
Right: Clippings from The Charlotte Observer providing updates about Second Ward High School, from planning to project completion.
Central High School
Built by Lockewood-Greene and Company (architects) and J. A. Jones Company (contractor), Central High School opened in 1923 at the intersection of Elizabeth Avenue and the former Cecil Avenue in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This institution was established after the original Charlotte High School could not hold the growing number of students enrolling each year. Due to the era of segregation, however, it only served an all-White student body for its first 30 years. Central High School would not be integrated until 1957, when Gus Roberts — one of the four African American students to integrate Charlotte’s schools — enrolled. He graduated from Central High School in 1959. Another noteworthy graduate of Central High School is former track Olympian and North Carolina politician, Jim Beatty.
Central High was utilized as a high school from 1923 until 1959, at which point Garinger High School opened to house an even larger number of students in a post-World War II society. Charlotte College (known today as UNC-Charlotte) utilized Central High’s facility as the location for their night school from 1949-1960.
After Charlotte College’s relocation, the Central Industrial Education Center (CIEC) moved in and started occupying the space in 1961. This institution was part of the larger state-wide Industrial Education Center system which addressed the vocational education needs of adults throughout Charlotte and the state of North Carolina. Today, the Industrial Education Center System is known as the North Carolina Community College System.
Around this time, an all-Black institution known as Carver College operated out of the basement of Second Ward High School, serving Black WWII veterans. Carver College went on to become Mecklenburg College in 1961. Two years later, Mecklenburg and the CIEC merged to become Central Piedmont Community College, using the Central High building to house its earliest programs, including Dental Hygiene, Nursing, Automotive Trades, and Engineering.
The Central High Building continues to reside on the Central Campus of Central Piedmont Community College, and it is used in a variety of academic and administrative capacities.
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Left: Central High School on Elizabeth Avenue, as seen in 1925. (Courtesy of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library)
Center: Aerial view of Central High School (shown on the left) along Elizabeth Avenue in the 1940s. (Credit: Central Piedmont Archives)
Right: Clippings from The Charlotte Observer providing updates about Central High School, from planning to project completion.
Footnotes
1 Armus, T. "50 years later, alumni reunite to recall beloved, bulldozed high school." Charlotte Observer, The (NC), June 3, 2019: 1A. NewsBank: Access World News. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/173D485ECD4ADCD0
2 Second Ward High School National Alumni Foundation. (n.d.). School History. http://www.secondwardfoundation.org/tiger_historic_ happenings/school_history
3 Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. (1998). The African American Album: The Black Experience in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, Vol. 2. Charlotte Mecklenburg Story. https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/african-american-album-volume-2/second-ward-high-school-0
4 ​Mecklenburg County Government. (n.d.). Second Ward Gym. https://www.mecknc.gov/ParkandRec/Aquatics/Pages/Second-Ward-Gym.aspx
Overview of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System
"Today, the public school district known as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools began in Charlotte in 1882. The system's first school, known as the South School, was located on the corner of East Morehead Street and South Boulevard in the barracks of the Carolina Military Institute. The first school for African American children was organized in 1882 and was known as Myers Street School.”1
By 1923, Central High School and Second Ward High School were opened to fulfill the growing educational needs of Charlotte students in the early twentieth century; Central serving White students and Second Ward serving Black students. In 1954, when Brown v. Board of Education was passed, Charlotte was very much a segregated city.
"For three years following the Brown decision, there was no move to comply with the law. Then, in 1957, Black citizens moved to take advantage of their legal right to attend White schools.”2 On September 4, 1957, four CMS applicants became the first African American students to integrate four separate all-White public schools. Gus Roberts integrated Central High School and graduated in 1959. Other students who helped to integrate CMS that year were Dorothy Counts Scoggins (Harding High School), Delois Huntley (Alexander Graham Junior High School), and Girvaud Roberts, sister of Gus Roberts (Piedmont Junior High School). “Of the four students, only Gus Roberts graduated from the school that he helped to integrate.”3
The history of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools is quite detailed. While this exhibit focuses on the history of only two CMS schools, we will be happy to direct visitors to other resources where they can learn more about CMS, the Civil Rights Movement and its impact in Charlotte, and other themes outlined in this exhibit.
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Left: The principal of Second Ward High School from 1931 to 1957, Jefferson Eugene Grigsby. Photo dated 1957. (Courtesy of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library)
Right: The principal of Central High School, Dr. Elmer H. Garinger, 1937. In 1949, he became superintendent of the Charlotte schools. (Credit: Central Piedmont Archives, CPA.031 - Central High School Collection)
School Songs
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Second Ward High School's Alma Mater Dear Second Ward, Our Alma Mater, We pledge ourselves to thee. We’ll love you e’er as onward we go If thou our guide will be. The thoughts that in our minds you leave Shall ever treasured be. Your noble deeds shall in us live, ‘Tis time shall end our praise.
(Source: The Tiger Yearbook, 1966) |
Central High School's Alma Mater Altho’ we stray from her forever more And all our work at Central Hi is o’er Our hearts will all remember those sweet days And forever we will sing your songs of praise Hail to thee our Alma Mater, true All hail our honored colors, gray and blue Praise to thee Central High School Of thee we ever sing with deepest pride
(Source: Snips and Cuts Yearbook, 1934) |
Artifacts
Charlotte City Directory, 1930. Entries showing Central High and Second Ward High Schools are displayed above.Footnotes
1 History of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools-Desegregation. https://www.cmsk12.org/Page/1047
2 History of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools-Desegregation. https://www.cmsk12.org/Page/1047
3 Marshall, S. (2021, February 17). New exhibit explores the desegregation of Charlotte Schools. J. Murrey Atkins Library. https://library.charlotte.edu/new-exhibit-explores-desegregation-charlotte-schools
Second Ward High School Alumni
Central High School Alumni
Mascots
A tiger illustration from Second Ward’s 1965 yearbook. (Courtesy of Vernie Johnson White)Cheerleading
Football
Baseball
Basketball
Marching Band
Second Ward’s marching band, known as the “Marching Tigers,” pictured in the 1965 yearbook. (Courtesy of Vernie Johnson White)Second Ward High School's Clubs & Activities
Photos courtesy of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, unless otherwise noted.
Central High School's Clubs & Activities
Photos and other materials are from the Central High School Collection (CPA.031), unless otherwise noted.
Central Piedmont Community College recognizes this exhibition contains some offensive content that does not reflect the College’s values and its commitment to inclusion and diversity. The Central Piedmont Archives presents the following content in its original and unaltered form for the purpose of educating and providing information. Displaying and providing access to these historical records does not endorse any attitudes, prejudices, or behaviors depicted in this exhibition. The Central Piedmont Archives is committed to upholding the principle of equal and free access to unaltered historical information.
