1916
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
Born in Charleston, J. Andrew Simmons attended Avery Institute and Fisk University. During Simmons’ tenure as principal, he introduced a course in music appreciation, led the newly formed John Work Chorus, commissioned an Alma Mater, supported the establishment of The Comet newspaper and the Celia Dial Saxon National Honor Society, and approved the creation of a Diversified Occupations program under the leadership of William Gilliam, Class of 1929.
1974
BTW emerged as a model of African-American secondary education in South Carolina and around the region. As Principal, and later as Supervisor of Negro Schools, C. A. Johnson recruited well-qualified educators and remained committed to an exceptionally high standard of professional development. Some of the early BTW faculty members included Florence C. Benson, T. J. Hanberry, Septima P. Clark, Modjeska Monteith Simkins, Creswell W. Madden, Edith C. Butler, Sarah B. Henderson, and Celia Dial Saxon.
In 1932, Booker T. Washington became one of the few African-American schools in South Carolina that awarded students a state high school diploma. In the following year, BTW achieved accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools (SACSS), which lauded the school’s extensive academic curriculum, extracurricular activities, night classes for adults, and vocational training programs. In 1940, BTW was identified as one of seventeen of “the most promising high schools” in a national study conducted by the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools for Negroes. Mr. Harold “Prof ” June and Orchestra, 1937 (top left); Septima Poinsette Clark (top right); Monteith Simkins (above right); Class of 1932 (below)
“ Mr. C. A. Johnson held what he called building meetings and professional meetings for the teachers . . . At the professional meeting the teachers would work on problems of teaching, such as remedial reading, methods of effectively presenting arithmetic or geography or other subjects, all kinds of teaching plans and methods. ”
Class of 1939 (top); Miss Gray’s 10th grade homeroom (above left); Class of 1942 (above)
- Septima P. Clark 1916
BTW Students, 1972 - 1973 “There was a standard of excellence expected of each student.”
1916
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
1974
- Mary Ellen Amaker, Class of 1969
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
1974