Forest Avenue High School, Old
About this property
James Madison High School, formerly Forest Avenue High School, is a public secondary school in Dallas, Texas (USA). Madison High School enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. The school is a Dallas Landmark which serves Cedars. It formerly served much of Downtown Dallas, until 2016. In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency. The original Forest Avenue High School was constructed in 1916 in the style of Italian Renaissance architecture, in what were then fast-growing suburban areas of Dallas. The building is on the United States National Register of Historic Places on the basis of its architecture as well as its importance in the growing South Dallas community over the period ending with the close of World War II in 1945. In 1951 a junior high annex for grades eight and nine was constructed at the south end of the building. Beginning in the late 1940s, the demographics of the surrounding community shifted as large numbers of African-Americans moved into the area. On June 14, 1956, the Dallas Board of Education announced that Forest Avenue High School would have its attendance zone redrawn to relieve overcrowding at the two existing "Negro schools," Booker T. Washington High School and Lincoln High School. In keeping with its existing policy on racial segregation, the school would be reassigned as a school for black students and the current white student body would attend Crozier Tech High School. The following day, the front page of The Dallas Morning News reported the criticism of the Texas Field Secretary of the NAACP, Edgar Washington, Jr., of the district's decision to turn over the school rather than to integrate. The paper also ran an editorial in the same day's paper applauding the school system for providing black students with an excellent facility while not violating state law by integrating the school. One week later, the paper reported a petition by "the Dad's Club [sic] and Parent-Teacher Association" of the school — with signatures from the student body — to request that the school's name, colors (green and white), and emblem (lion) be retired, with the colors and emblem remaining available to any future whites-only school that might request to use them. The principal announced at that same meeting that all Forest Avenue trophies and other memorabilia were to be transferred to Crozier Tech. The school reopened that fall as James Madison High School, though the district's faculty and staff had been prepared for possible repetition of the 1955 attempts of 24 Black students to enroll in five White schools.
Location
Categories
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.
Everything a full report reveals about Forest Avenue High School, Old
This page lists Forest Avenue High School, Old. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Forest Avenue High School, Old listed on the National Register?
Forest Avenue High School, Old was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 23, 1995.
What type of historic resource is Forest Avenue High School, Old?
Forest Avenue High School, Old is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Forest Avenue High School, Old?
The period of significance for Forest Avenue High School, Old is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Forest Avenue High School, Old?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Forest Avenue High School, Old will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Dallas County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Dallas County.
Explore DallasCounty ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Forest Avenue High School, Old will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.