Eleventh and Spruce

In 1875, after African American parents in Saint Louis voiced concerns about inadequate school facilities for their children, the state legislature directed the city school board to establish a high school for Black students. In response, the board designated a former all-white elementary school building as the high school for African American children. This 12-room building became the first high school for African Americans west of the Mississippi River.

The school was named Sumner High School in honor of Charles Sumner (1811–1874), a United States Senator from Massachusetts who, in 1861, became one of the first prominent politicians to advocate for full emancipation. He died the year before the school opened.

For its first two years, Sumner was staffed entirely by white teachers. In 1877, Black teachers were added, and in 1879, Oscar M. Waring was appointed principal. He became the first Black principal in Saint Louis in 1890 and played a key role in establishing a normal school at Sumner to train African American teachers.

Initially, Sumner functioned largely as an elementary school, with most students concentrated in the first four grades. In 1880, only 78 of the school’s 411 students were enrolled in high school-level courses. Due to the school’s small high school enrollment and demanding curriculum, its first graduation did not occur until ten years after its founding. In 1885, Emma Vashon and John F. Pope became the school’s first graduates.

Sumner High School remained at its original location until 1895, when it relocated to 15th and Walnut Streets.

The school was established following the adoption of the Constitution of 1865 in Missouri, which required that regional school boards support the education of Black children in their districts. Even though the African American population grew steadily from the early 1860s to the 1920s, Sumner High School was the only high school for African Americans until 1927 when Vashon High School opened its doors.

Today, Sumner High School is still functioning as a predominantly African American high school.