Ms. Gil Experiments

Student Edna Gill doing laboratory work at Dunbar High School (Science Lab) in Washington DC. Scurlock Studio (Washington DC)

History of Dunbar High School
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Washington D.C. was America’s first black public high school, the high school produced some of the most successful blacks in the country. Dunbar High was founded in 1870 as the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth in the basement of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church. It was later changed to M Street High School before being renamed Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in 1916.

Some of Dunbar's Graduates:
*Nannie Helen Burroughs, an educator, orator, religious leader and businesswoman.

*Elizabeth Catlett, a prominent sculptor and artist.

*Mary P. Burrill, an educator and playwright.

*Jean Toomer, poet and novelist associated with the Harlem Renaissance.

*James E. Bowman, scientist, physician, and pathologist.

*James Reese Europe, first African American officer to lead troops in battle in WWI, founder and first president of the Clef Club, and leader of the 369th Hellfighters Infantry Regiment Band.

Sources: Scurlock Studio Records/National Museum of American History