Dunbar Negro School in Bessemer educated many African Americans during the segregation era.
Did your ancestors attend Dunbar?
Originally called the Bessemer Colored High School, the school was renamed in 1928 after Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1906), an Ohio born poet.
The school taught both academic and vocational programs. Most blacks in the Bessemer area went to this school and the Alumni continues to hold reunions even though this high school closed in 1960. The school was later converted to an elementary and middle school and then became the Dunbar Community Center.
Notable students … art collector Paul R. Jones and activist James Boggs
Notable teacher/principal … Civil Rights attorney Arthur Shores. He taught science, history, civics and literature.
Notable long-time principal … Jackson Solomon. He died in 1959 and a new high school that was being built at the time was named after him.
Future plans are in the works to keep the Dunbar Community Center name and turn a new building into a museum.
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