[347] The auditorium has a large stage, seating capacity for 1,500,
with provisions made for presenting motion pictures. The pipe organ in
the auditorium offers musical advantages which the pupils have never
before enjoyed. The lunch room having a modern kitchen for the
preparation of hot foods contributes greatly to the health and comfort
of both teachers and pupils. The efficiency of the music department
has been greatly enhanced by the five pianos which have been
installed. Standing on the balconies provided for visitors one may see
the large gymnasiums for both boys and girls in which are dressing
rooms provided with shower baths and the most up-to-date equipment.
The printing plant is valued at $4,000. The classes in bookkeeping and
accounting will have the great advantage of receiving instruction in a
real bank, for a banking department has been provided with a safe and
windows and all the other modern facilities found in such an
institution.
In the dining room and the living room, each having modern furniture,
the girls in the domestic science course may learn by actual
experience how to lay a table, arrange furniture and keep house.
Botany, zoology, chemistry and physics are taught in laboratories and
lecture rooms which occupy practically the whole basement floor. In
the department of physics there is a particularly fine apparatus,
which represents the careful collection and selection of many years.
The wireless outfit which is soon to be installed will greatly
increase the advantages enjoyed by the pupils. Nothing is more
gratifying to the visitor than the spacious library on the second
floor of the building, which is complete in its appointments, with a
capacity for 4,337 volumes and facilities for the accommodation of 185
students. On the first floor are the administration offices and a
study hall with a seating capacity for 106 students. In their armory
under the Auditorium the Cadets have space enough for several
companies and there is also a rifle range for target practice. In this
new building there are 35 class rooms, 5 retiring rooms, an emergency
room, 7 locker rooms and locker accommodations for 1,500 pupils. A
greenhouse and a roof garden are being constructed and it is hoped
that Congress may make an appropriation for building a stadium in the
rear of the school.
The course of study in the Dunbar High School includes all the
academic and business subjects taught in similar schools of accredited
standing, as well as domestic science, printing, physical training and
military science.
[348] Annual Report of the Colored Schools of Washington and
Georgetown, 1872-73, p. 31.
[349] _Ibid._, pp. 31, 62, and 95.
[350] First Report of the Board of Trustees of the Public Schools of
the D. C., 1875-76, pp. 174, 181.
[351] _Ibid._, 1874-75, p. 252.
[352] Third Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Colored
Public Schools of Washington and Georgetown, The Preparatory High
School.
[353] Simmons, "Men of Mark," p. 428.
[354] This is based on the Reports of the Board of Education of the
District of Columbia.
[355] Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Public Schools,
1889-90, p. 175.
[356] The site of the building cost $24,592.50, the building itself
cost $74,454.88, the fixtures $9,862.44, making a total expenditure of
$109,909.82. (See Report of the Board of Education of D. C.,
1904-1905.)
[357] From 1875 to 1882 he was principal of a Grammar School. In 1882
he was appointed supervising principal and served in that capacity for
fourteen years. In 1896 he was placed at the head of the M Street High
School and served three years. In 1899 he was again appointed
supervising principal and served two years. In 1900 he was made
assistant superintendent for the colored schools and remained in that
position for seven years. In 1907 he was appointed for the fourth time
to a supervising principalship and holds this position at the present
time.
[358] Among the officers are Captains C. C. H. Davis, S. H. Epps, L.
H. Patterson, Lieutenants A. C. Newman, Principal of the Armstrong
Manual Training School, B. D. Boyd, T. J. Abrams, C. King and R. A.
Jackson, all products of this high school.
[359] He served in Liberia with Colonel Young, who organized the
Liberian Constabulary.