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To accommodate an increasing African American population, the Austin Public School system (later the AISD) built E.H. Anderson High School in 1909, renaming it L.C. Anderson High School in 1938. The same year, the Austin City Plan restricted construction of future African American schools to the segregated neighborhood east of East Avenue. Post-war population growth and the need to improve its "separate but equal" facilities led AISD in 1953 to build a larger, more modern building for Anderson High School. L.C. Anderson High School became a social center for the entire community, hosting athletics, plays, concerts, and graduations, and despite its disadvantages, the students excelled in academics, athletics, and music. In 1955, the U.S. Supreme Court's second Brown v. Board of Education decision ordered schools nationwide to desegregate "with all deliberate speed." Austin implemented a "freedom of choice" program, allowing students to choose where they attended school, but in 1968, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare declared AISD noncompliant with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1969, AISD attempted to integrate Anderson, but only 17 white students enrolled. In 1971, when a U.S. district court redrew attendance boundaries, only 40 white students attended, as many white parents would not allow their children to attend Anderson. In 1971, AISD, with the court's approval, closed Anderson High School and ordered the busing of African American students to predominantly white high schools within the district. The closure of L.C. Anderson High School at this location, Austin's only Black public high school, diminished the cohesiveness which made the historic L.C. Anderson High School such a focal point for the surrounding community. (2018) |
