APS Class of 1964 Celebrates 80th Birthdays, Integration, Final Class of Segregation in Atlanta

80^th birthday celebration for alumni will be November 14, 2026 at the Sonesta Hotel from 1 pm to 5 pm

A group of alumni from some of the Class of 1964 schools of Atlanta gather to celebrate integration and the final graduating class of fully segregated schools in Atlanta, Georgia, as the alumni celebrates their 80^th birthdays.

The alumni are from

• Booker T. Washington High School (opened in 1924);
• George Washington Carver High School (opened in 1947);
• David T. Howard High School (opened in 1923 as an elementary school and expanded to become a high school in 1948);
• Samuel Howard Archer High School (opened in 1950);
• Henry McNeal Turner High School (opened in 1951; closed in 1990); and
• Luther Judson Price High School (opened in 1954);

Initially, Atlanta had these six Black public high schools established during the era of segregation.

Most of the committee members for this momentous Class of 1964 occasion feel that “we are truly something special.”

Jesse Jenkins, a 1964 graduate of Luther Judson Price High School, states that the presumption of most Caucasians of that day were that Black children were not as smart as white children. So, in the 1960s, as Atlanta dove into integration, they chose the smartest Black students of each school to integrate the majority high schools. They found that Black students were just as smart and intelligent if not more.

Alumni remember that one of the things that was characteristic for all of the Black schools during that time is that they received hand-me-down books. “The white schools got all the new books, and we would get the hand-me-down books.” “But we excelled from those hand-me-down books.”

“We had excellent people who made sure that we learned. We had good teachers.”

One of the Class of 1964 alumni includes Barbara Clark Harris who integrated William Anderson Bass High School. She was originally a student of Howard High School and enjoyed her time at Howard High. However, she says, while at Howard High School, “I had to walk from our house on Aberdeen two blocks down to Flora Avenue, four blocks up Flora Avenue to DeKalb Avenue, cross the railroad tracks on DeKalb Avenue to wait an hour and a half for a bus to take me to Howard High School.” “So, when I had the opportunity to go to Bass, which was 15 minutes from my mother’s house, I could walk there in 15 minutes.” Prior to integration, she and other Black students were not allowed to attend Bass High School or other white schools even though it may have been closer to their homes. Clark Harris went to Howard High her 8^th through 10^th grade years, then went on to graduate from Bass High School.

Clark Harris recalls that prior to integration, Grady had two schools for nursing: one for Blacks, and one for whites. The white students wore pink uniforms with a white bib. The Black students wore blue uniforms with a white bib. The nursing caps were even different. She continues and states that Grady had two emergency rooms: one for Blacks, and one for whites. “I remember once my dad got sick in 1963. My mom and I took him to Grady. The Black emergency room was so full, they gave my dad a pillow and a blanket; and he had to lay on the floor for four hours while there were beds and stretchers in the white emergency room, but you were not allowed to go into that part of the hospital.”

Of these Black high schools, Washington High School still exists. Howard exists not as a high school, but as a middle school. Price is now a middle school. Turner is now a KIPP school. Harper is now Harper-Archer, as two schools merged in 1995, but is now an elementary school.

Even after students of the Class of 1964 finished high school, they went out into the world and became productive citizens.

Jesse Jenkins, Price High Class of 1964, retired from the U.S. Department of Labor as regional director of operations for the Southeast Region (which was composed of eight states in the southeast). In that position, he and his team fought against discrimination in the labor workforce.

Barbara Clark Harris, Howard High Class of 1964 / Bass High Class of 1964, was a part of the first integrated class at Grady School of Nursing. She retired from nursing as a registered nurse and retired as a lockbox manager from Truist Bank.

Linda Webster, Harper High School Class of 1964, retired after 40 years with Citizens Trust Bank (CTB). She had been the vice president and director of facilities and support services. She oversaw the construction of the Cascade Branch of CTB.

Sandra Davis Maddox, Howard High Class of 1964, worked in the insurance industry for 30 years. She also worked for the State of Georgia, retired from SunTrust Bank and from Delta Air Lines customer service department.

Brenda Easley Swinney, Price High Class of 1964, retired from Bellsouth/AT&T after 30 years.

Louise Copeland Dobbins, Harper High School Class of 1964, retired from the United States Postal Service (USPS). She also worked in the medical industry.

Larry Dodson, Turner High Class of 1964, continued his education at Morehouse College, went into the U.S. Army and worked in management information systems at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

Archie Stanley, Washington Class of 1964, retired as director of international programs at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. He is also the first Black graduate with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).

Committee members for this special Class of 1964 80^th Birthday Event and Celebration include: Jesse Jenkins (Price High); Barbara Clark Harris (Howard High and Bass High); Louise Copeland Dobbins (Harper High); Sandra Davis Maddox (Howard High); Larry Dodson (Turner High); Brenda Easley Swinney (Price High); Archie Stanley (Washington High); James R. Terry (Washington High); Ray Whitaker (Carver High); and Charlotte J. White (Turner High).

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Atlanta’s Grady High School, Brown High School, Murphy High School, Northside High School Desegregate! (1961)

Students who brought integration to the City of Atlanta and the State of Georgia were honored Wednesday at the Achievement Week Banquet of Eta Omega Chapter, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Honorees are, left-to-right, Lawrence Jefferson, Grady High; Arthur Simmons, Northside High; Thomas Welch, Brown High; Madelyn Nix, Brown High; Willie Jean Black, Northside High; Rosalyn Walton, Murphy High; Mary James McDuffie, Grady High; Mary Frances Early, first Negro [Black American] graduate student, University of Georgia; Ralph Long, Jr., Georgia Tech; Ford Green, Jr., Georgia Tech; Lawrence Williams, Georgia Tech.
Miss Willie Jean Black’s bandages are the result of injuries received when the car in which she was riding was struck from the rear by a car driven by another Northside student.
Photo by Dodson (Atlanta Inquirer)

Last updated on November 9, 2026