Principal of William Penn, 1897-1923
Principal of William Penn, 1923-1933
Principal of William Penn, 1933-1968
AAA Champions
Unveiled in 2010
Photograph courtesy of the High Point Historical Society, High Point, NC; Gift of Gwyn Davis.
24 William Penn students helped to lead sit-ins in High Point beginning on February 11, 1960.Photograph Courtesy of the High Point Historical Society, High Point, NC; The High Point Enterprise Negative Collection.
The William Penn Project explores the history of William Penn High School, which served African-American students in High Point, North Carolina from the 1890s through its closure in 1968.
The school was a pivotal institution for black communities in High Point, for it provided education for their young men and women and a gathering place for their organizations at a time when systemic racial discrimination made both endeavors extremely difficult. Many graduates went on to college, and even more established themselves as upstanding citizens in communities across the country.
The strength of William Penn’s community was exhibited through its students’ classroom and extracurricular successes, including their leadership of the nation’s first sit-in initiated by high schoolers.
Nearly half a century later, hundreds of William Penn alumni remain deeply loyal to the memory and living community of the school that exerted a powerful influence upon their development.