Description
[EDUCATION, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHY, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTEGRATION ] "GEORGE WASHINGTON JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL" (OCTAVIA BUTLER MIDDLE SCHOOL) On offer here is a 8 x 39 in albumen photograph in glazed frame (glazing will be removed prior to shipping). in excellent condition. The photo was taken of the whole 'June 1955' class outdoors with the well known Spanish themed building in the background. This image is interesting in that it shows a very integrated student body in the wake of desegregation efforts by both the State of California in Mendez v. Westminster (1947) and the landmark Brown v Board of Education (1954) the year prior. Its worth noting Earl Warren was instrumental in both these cases as Governor in the Mendez case (signed into law) and as Chief Justice and author of the US Supreme Court decision in Brown . The school now bears the name of noted African-American science fiction author Octavia E. Butler (class of 1962) since 2022. 'Yarder ' photos of schools with progressive racial makeups from the early to mid 1950's are scarce if not rare. Please email any questions -