The story of Douglass is a story of change - - from a two-room, two-teacher frame building and a program of "readin’, ritin’, and ‘rithmetic" to a magnificent multi-structured plant and an educational program geared to meet the needs of youth in an atomic age.

Let us follow the story.

1891– 1903: In 1891, on a cold January 5, the Oklahoma City Board of Education sat in session. The members had met to consider the need to establish schools for the children of Oklahoma City. A motion was made and passed and a school was born – the "colored school". A faculty of two was elected – a principal, Mr. J. D. Randolph; and a "grammar" teacher, Mr. Lewis S. Wilson.

It is easy to find the spot where the new school stood. Simply walk along West California street on the south side until you come to the middle of the block between Robinson and Harvey. There, in 1891, was the long, barn-like building known simply as "the colored school".

By 1893, the name of Mr. Wilson had disappeared from the list of teachers, but another had been added – that of Miss Drusilla Dunjee, elected on September 13, 1893. Soon Mrs. Lucy Carruthers joined the staff, being elected in 1894. Thus, as a little elementary school, our Douglass had its beginnings.

Time, however short, brings its changes.

By 1898, the "colored school" pupils were ready for high school and, forthwith; a high school came into existence.

A new principal, a new building, a faculty enlarged to eight teachers – this was the setting of a changed environment for the boys and girls of 1898.

Mr. J. W. Sharp, the newly – elected principal, was a brilliant young college man just out of Kansas. Proceeding to reorganize the school, he asked the students to suggest a name for their new building. The pupils responded with the name of Frederick Douglass, the great statesman and Negro leader. Thus the name of "Douglass" was recommended, approved by the Board of Education and bestowed upon the school, which was to become the proud alma mater of generations of Oklahoma City youth.

Graduation of the first class from Douglass came in 1903. Eight young men and women counted with pride the twelve years since 1891 and were grateful. The pioneering spirit, which gave birth to a school now enabled them confidently to move into adulthood, sure of the contribution they themselves could make to the development of better communities wherever they might go.

A look at the list of that first graduating class brings to light the names of Ethelinda Michem, Carrie L. Walton, Mary Crosslyn, Aldine Dixon, Anna Rolfe, Madison Bigham, and Ida Wright. Monroe Duncan dropped out just before graduation. Principal during that year of the first Douglass commencement was Mr. G. F. Porter.

Thus, an episode in the story of Douglass closes and the development of another epoch unfolds.

1903-1921: Eighteen years of progress, beginning in 1903, constitute a distinct era in the history of Douglass.

Again, it is the story of change – a new building, a growing faculty, and an expanded curriculum.

The old frame building, which had housed Douglass, burned in 1903 and the school was moved into a brick and stone building at 200 East California. This building, later enlarged, remained the location of Douglass until September 1934.

A new principal, Mr. J. H. A. Brazelton, made further significant contributions to the growth of Douglass. Besides giving local leadership in reorganizing the curriculum of the Negro schools, he organized and became the first president of the Oklahoma Association of Negro Teachers.

Rapid expansion of the instructional program took place during Mr. Brazelton’s regime. Athletics, art, home economics, music, industrial arts, and extra – curricular activities were made available to the boys and girls at Douglass. An auditorium and an industrial arts building were added to the school plant. Yearly increases in the enrollment led to the annual graduation of larger and larger classes and the year of the close of Mr. Brazelton's twelve-year tenure, 1915 had graduated 75 students graduated since 1903.

Following the close of Mr. Brazelton’s term of service in 1915, Mr. T. R. Debnam succeeded to the principalship, served for three years (1915 -–1918) and was followed by Mr. S. R. Youngblood (1918 – 1921). Each of these principals maintained high standards and made further improvement in the program of Douglass.

1921– 1940: Yet another historic period of change claims our attention.

Now, in the fall of 1921, Oklahoma City was blessed with the coming of Dr. Inman E. Page, "the Grand Old Man", a president of Langston University from 1898 – 1915. Like Mr. Brazelton, he served as principal of Douglass and as supervising principal of the separate schools. The schools expanded greatly under Dr. Page’s influence. With his daughter, Mrs. Zelia N. Breaux, assisting him, music in Oklahoma City now ranked among the best in the country. All other activities, started earlier, continued to grow.

Mr. Page, after serving for thirteen years, retired in 1935 to become principal emeritus of Douglass. During the school year of 1922-23, Mr. Page accepted the presidency of Lincoln University at Jefferson City, Missouri, and Douglass had Mr. J. C. Whitaker as acting principal for that year only.

In the closing year of Inman E. Page, the school was moved from down on California to the new site at 600 North High Street. This was in the fall of 1934 and it marked the beginning of a very glorious period in the history of Douglass.

In the fall of 1935, Mr. C. O. Rogers (1935-1940) took over the educational leadership at Douglass. An excellent job of curriculum reorganization, enlarged classes, introduction of newer techniques and greater participation in athletics were features of Mr. Rogers’ administration. Unfortunately, politics in the Oklahoma City schools plagued the period of Mr. Rogers’ principalship. Mr. Rogers served five years as principal.

1940-1955: A new era marks the period of 1940 to the present day. The community revolted against the political domination of its schools and members of the board of education underwent legal prosecution and punishment for law violations in connection with the operation of the schools. In spite of these interferences, Douglass produced much larger graduating classes and devised "The Next Step", a curriculum guide.

Mr. F. D. Moon was elected principal of Douglass on June 7, 1940. The germ of the new Douglass came into being four years later, in 1944. Dr. Herbert Bruner, superintendent of schools, first suggested Washington Park, at Fourth and High Streets, as the location of the new school. There arose such vigorous opposition to this from the Negro citizens that the idea was abandoned. Attention then turned to the Fairgrounds, then located on Eastern, as a good site.

The first positive action taken to build the new high school came with the passage of a bond issue in December 1945, which carried the sum of $308,000. The drive to secure the bond issue was sponsored by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance and the Negro Chamber of Commerce. Incidentally, this was the second bond issue ever voted for separate schools in the state of Oklahoma. Mr. Moon served as director of the drive for this and the two subsequent bond issues for the new school.

The amount voted in the first bond was inadequate, but it did help to secure a toe hold in the old Fairgrounds in 1948. The first meeting dealing with the matter of purchasing a site and buildings in the Fairgrounds was held early in November 1948, in the old FAA building. Twenty-six acres of land, the 4-H Club building, the FFA building, the old livestock pavilion and several other buildings were purchased for a price of $410,000. Two hundred thousand dollars of the purchase price came from the money accumulated under the one-mill building levy for separate schools.

In December 1951, under the sponsorship of the Citizens’ Action Committee, a bond issue in the amount of $90,000 was voted for the new high school. A little more than $400,000 from the one-mill building levy was added to the amount voted in the bond issue, making possible the construction of the first unit, and adding to the acreage, secured approximately forty acres for the school site.

The third bond issue provided $900,000 and was adopted by the people on December 11, 1953. This last bond issue made possible the construction of the gymnasium, the swimming pool, the library, the improvement of grounds for the football field, the cinder track, tennis courts, baseball and softball diamonds, and parking lot for seven hundred automobiles.

In taking this glimpse of sixty-four years of educational history, we have covered a period of much achievement and have observed a well-laid foundation. This magnificent plant being dedicated today marks the culmination of united effort on the part of may people. Included in the victorious galaxy are the five thousand people who signed a petition to be included in the 1951 bond issue; the Citizens'’Action Committee; Superintendent J. Chester Swanson; the Oklahoma City Board of Education; the Douglass faculty and students; the press; the parents; our ministers; the Negro Chamber of Commerce; and countless others. To all of these, and to the thousands of young men and women who will reap the fruits of their labor, May 1, 1955 will remain an outstanding and memorable day in the "story of Douglass".

This school building is laid out in a semi-campus style on a site of forty acres. The ultimate building program stipulates a plant to house 1200 students, grades 10-12. Standard classroom space in the present unit is 750. The building with the site is planned for community use to serve as a center for both education and civic functions.

These large space areas include an auditorium which seats 1,306, a gymnasium, which seats 2,300, a swimming pool, which seats 350 spectators, and a cafeteria, which seats 500 people.

This school plant is a product of the thinking of many people including citizens’ committees, faculty committees, board of education, school staff, architects, landscape architects, students and the park department of Oklahoma City.

The three-toned colored exterior structure is provided with light colored brick in the classroom section, and on part of the auditorium. The deep red brick and brown synthetic granite on the office area, hall, and auditorium entrance, give emphasis to the light brick. The colorful interior, sixty-three hues and shades, is also surfaced with windows, natural brick, and aggregate block. An electrically controlled clock is located on the granite pylon. On the interior, the work and study areas are painted with colors particularly restful to the eyes. The cafeteria, auditorium, library, restrooms, and other casual areas were painted in more brilliant colors to offer optical relaxation.

Three outstanding features of this plant are: (1) it is located on a large site; (2) it is functional in expediting the planned educational program. The building is expansible and lends itself to flexible use, and; (3) it is equipped with modern furniture and equipment.

Features noteworthy of mentioning are (1) the student government and storage areas; (2) the adequate administrative area; (3) planning rooms for teachers; (4) the provisions for the handicapped; (5) the cozy library and provisions for visual education; (6) the fine arts unit in connection with the auditorium; (7) the home training and art unit; (8) the spacious cafeterias; (9) the gymnasium and swimming pool areas; (10) the patios and parking areas, and: (11) last, the well equipped classrooms.

Oklahoma City's first black high school is falling to the crowbar and wrecking ball this fall to end its long service to the city school system.

Webster Junior High School at the northeast corner of Walnut and Reno streets was first used as a black high school sometime during the term of Edgar S. Vaught, city school superintendent, between 1901 and 1906.

Oklahoma County commissioners took custody of the building as part of the newly set up state black school system. Gus Braselton, whom Vaught brought with him in 1901 from Tennessee, served as the school's first principal.

Before going all black, the school was a white elementary school built sometime before the turn of the century.

The name of the school was changed before 1910 to Douglass High School, and the city school district took control of it. Douglass later moved to its present location, N. E. 8^th and Eastern, which was the first state fairgronds.

The school has been long abandoned and has stood, unoccupied and with broken and boarded up windows, in the industrial region.

Vaught later sat in on a number of important intergration cases dealing with the constitutionality of the state separate schools laws after he was named a U.S. District Court Judge.

He ordered Oklahoma school boards to pay black and white teachers the same salary in a decision handed down in October, 1948..