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Formal education for African American children in Livingston started in a building on West Street in the late 1800s. By 1908, the school also offered teaching certificates through one-month institutes. Later, part of a previous schoolhouse for Livingston's caucasian students was put on logs and pulled across town by mule teams for a new African American schoolhouse. To meet the needs of the growing community, school trustees built a larger facility in the West End Addition. The school was named for Paul Laurence Dunbar, a nationally renowned African American poet. Dunbar High School opened in 1936 as the largest school for African Americans in Polk County, with twelve grades and vocational studies. The brick building housed eight classrooms, a library, principal's office and a fully equipped homemaking department. In the 1940s, activities expanded with a full-time athletic program and courses in agriculture and choral music. A 1945 fire gutted the building, with classes temporarily held in neighborhood churches. The state Department of Education accredited the school in 1946. The Dunbar Leopards excelled in athletics, winning state titles in football in 1953, 1954 and 1958. New Willard School consolidated with Dunbar in 1957, transferring faculty, students and a building to the campus. In 1965, citywide school integration began with the Freedom of Choice program, resulting in Dunbar's closing in 1968. The Committee to Save Dunbar Complex bought the property and transferred it from the school district to Polk County in the 1980s, ensuring continued public use. School pride endures through an alumni association and the school's contributions to its graduates and its community. (2008) |
