Statement of Significance (as of designation - August 7, 2001):
This school is associated with the struggle to desegregate schools in Washington, DC and is tied to the landmark Supreme Court case, Bolling v. Sharpe. The school stands as a symbol of the lengthy conflict that ultimately led to the racial desegregation of schools by the federal government and marked the beginning of the modern civil rights movement. In 1950, eleven black students were denied admission to the newly constructed all-white Sousa school. This event led to the 1954 Supreme Court decision that made "separate but equal" educational systems illegal in the District of Columbia.