[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 143 (Thursday, October 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1412-E1413]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 60-YEAR CLASS REUNION OF THE 1955 CLASS OF PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR HIGH 
                                 SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 1, 2015

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in celebrating the class of 1955 of Paul 
Laurence Dunbar Senior High School in the District of Columbia as it 
celebrates its 60-year class reunion Saturday, October 3, 2015, its 
reunion committee and particularly Donald R. Wines for his phenomenal 
leadership with the Dunbar Alumni Federation, and Dunbar High School 
itself in history and today. I am fortunate to be an alumna of Dunbar 
High School and a member of this distinguished class.
  Dunbar High School, which started in a church basement, was the first 
public high school for African Americans in the United States and 
remained segregated until 1954, when the District of Columbia was one 
of the six Brown v. Board of Education jurisdictions that successfully 
challenged segregated schools in the United States. Dunbar was 
instrumental in making the District of Columbia a bulwark of education 
for almost a century, attracting students from across the District, who 
were drawn by the school's excellent reputation. That same reputation 
was reinforced by Dunbar's remarkable 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 Sr., the first Black general in the U.S. Army; Wesley 
Brown, the first Black graduate of the U.S. 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 in higher education that persisted at the time.

[[Page E1413]]

  The 60-year Dunbar High School class reunion is another occasion for 
pride in Dunbar High School today and in the class of 1955. Dunbar has 
been recently rebuilt into a state-of-the-art facility and became a 
neighborhood school following the Brown decision. Its storied history 
continues to inspire generations of students.
  The class of 1955 graduated the year following the historic Brown 
decision and has come together at important intervals to celebrate its 
class, the education received at Dunbar, and the school today. Keeping 
the class together did not take place spontaneously. This work has been 
a commendable team effort, but that team recognizes that the leadership 
of Donald R. Wines has been indispensable to its success. Donald has 
discouraged all acknowledgment of his extraordinary leadership on 
behalf of Dunbar and the class of 1955. However, the House of 
Representatives is free to commend and thank Donald for focusing his 
many talents, his organizational expertise, and the skills he honed as 
a Dunbar student to the class of 1955 Dunbar High School and the 
historic Dunbar tradition.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House of Representatives to join me in 
celebrating the 60-year class reunion of the 1955 class of Paul 
Laurence Dunbar High School and the Dunbar High School Reunion 
Committee and Dunbar High School itself. I ask the House to 
particularly commend the leadership of Donald R. Wines, whose 
indefatigable energy and wise guidance have been the essential 
ingredients to the consistency of efforts that have enabled the Dunbar 
class of 1955 to celebrate 60 years of continuing friendship.

                          ____________________