[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 114 (Friday, August 2, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1245]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       OPENING OF THE NEW PAUL LAWRENCE DUNBAR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 2, 2013

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in celebrating the opening of the new Paul 
Laurence Dunbar Senior High School in the District of Columbia. Dunbar 
High School was the first public high school for African Americans in 
the United States, and has educated students in the District of 
Columbia for more than 140 years.
  Dunbar started in a church basement and had no formal home for its 
first 20 years. The new Dunbar High School is a green, state-of-the-art 
building that will inspire the new strides the school is making. Dunbar 
today is a neighborhood high school in a tough D.C. neighborhood, 
unlike the magnet school that attracted students from across the city 
to come to a high school known for its college preparatory curriculum. 
However, the school's rich history is an inspiration to the leaders of 
the school, students, and parents today.
  Dunbar was instrumental in making the District of Columbia a bulwark 
of education for almost a century, despite its segregated school system 
until the District of Columbia became one of the six Brown v. Board of 
Education cases. Children from all of the city's neighborhoods came to 
Dunbar, drawn by its storied reputation. That reputation was reinforced 
by Dunbar's record of graduating more distinguished African Americans 
than any high school in the country. Among them were Edward Brooke, the 
first black popularly elected United States Senator; Robert C. Weaver, 
the first black Cabinet member; Benjamin O. Davis, the first black 
general; Wesley Brown, the first black graduate of the Naval Academy; 
Charles R. Drew, the discoverer of blood plasma; and Mary Jane 
Patterson, the first African American to achieve a college degree. 
Dunbar also drew teachers with advanced degrees who would have been 
college professors, but for segregation. The school's reputation for 
excellence, in turn, attracted the most prominent colleges and 
universities annually to visit Dunbar to recruit students. Dunbar is 
facing its challenge with unflinching energy, but its new facility will 
ease the way, and its proud history will guide Dunbar to new 
accomplishments.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in 
celebrating the opening of the new Paul Laurence Dunbar High School on 
August 19, 2013, and in wishing the school success in continuing its 
proud legacy in the District of Columbia.

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