 A high school for Negroes in Lynchburg was established in
September1881, in a building on Jackson and Ninth Streets, where it was
housed until the Dunbar School was completed in 1923. Mr. Jacob Yoder
had been sent to Lynchburg just after the Civil War by the
Freeman's Bureau to work among the Negroes in Lynchburg, and he at once
established a school for them. Too much can not be said in praise of the
work done by Mr. Yoder for the Negro schools of this city.
In 1923 Dunbar High School opened its doors at Twelfth and Polk Streets, ushering in a new era of education for Lynchburg’s African American community. Courtesy of the Lynchburg Public Library
The present
principal of Dunbar, Mr. C.W. Seay , has been its administrator since
1940. The growth of the high school
was very slow at first. In 1884, there were only four students; today,
there are approximately 700. The four year high school began in 1920
with all students taking the same academic course. As the need arose,
additional classes and courses were incorporated . At present,
Dunbar High School serves students of the academic, commercial, and
practical arts curricula. As the student body needs increased ,
buildings and facilities were added.
Dunbar High is a school of
traditions.
Alma Mater
|
Dunbar High School
for the Black students of Lynchburg stood at the top of 12th Street
hill. These steps are on 12th Street and lead up to the side of the
school. Generations of students walked up and down these steps each
school day. The original school has been demolished and replaced with a
grade school and the steps are closed off, no longer in use.
Today, there are five buildings,
with four science laboratories, a language laboratory, a library, and
three business machines rooms; an administration building also housing
the gymnasium, cafeteria and auditorium; a completely furnished housing
unit for Homemaking ; and a building housing the vocational shops.