National Register of Historic Places

Douglass, Frederick, High School

Baltimore (Independent City), Baltimore County, Maryland
Listed
May 17, 1989
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
89000412

About this property

Frederick Douglass High School, established in 1883, is an American public high school in the Baltimore City Public Schools district. Originally named the Colored High and Training School, Douglass is the second-oldest U.S. high school created specifically for African American students. Prior to desegregation, Douglass and Paul Laurence Dunbar High School were the only two high schools in Baltimore that admitted African-American students, with Douglass serving students from West Baltimore and Dunbar serving students from East Baltimore. Former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (1908–1993) is one of Douglass's most notable alumni. After graduating from Douglass in 1926, Marshall went on to college and law school, passing the bar and becoming a lawyer. Representing the NAACP, he successfully challenged school segregation in the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education (1954). The Supreme Court ruled that segregated, separate but equal, in public education was unconstitutional because it could never truly be equal. Due to residential segregation and changes in the demographics of Baltimore, as of 2008 the overwhelming majority of students at Douglass were African American and many were poor. It was one of the eleven lowest performing schools in the state of Maryland.

Location

1601 N. Calhoun St.
Baltimore (Independent City), Baltimore County, Maryland
39.30781, -76.64154

Categories

EDUCATION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Old West Baltimore Historic District (Additional Documentation)
Listed
0.4 mi
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue
Industrial
0.5 mi
Public School No. 111
Industrial
0.5 mi
Bachrach, David, House
Industrial
0.5 mi
Eutaw-Madison Apartment House Historic District
Industrial
0.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Douglass, Frederick, High School listed on the National Register?

Douglass, Frederick, High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 17, 1989.

What type of historic resource is Douglass, Frederick, High School?

Douglass, Frederick, High School is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Douglass, Frederick, High School?

The period of significance for Douglass, Frederick, High School is recorded as the industrial era.

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