Festus High School will hold Douglass Night next week, commemorating the history of the former Douglass Cooperative High School that enrolled Black students during segregation.
The recognition for the old school is set for 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, at the high school, 501 Westwind Drive, in Festus. The event will be held right before that night’s varsity boys basketball game when the Tigers take on the Valle Warriors at Festus High.
Tickets for the game will cost $3 for adults and $2 for students.
Also that day, presentations about the Douglass Cooperative High School will be given during social studies classes. Artifacts from Douglass School will be displayed during those classes and in the school foyer to see before and during the game.
The Douglass School was housed in a building where Festus’ Shropshire Park is located, and it enrolled Black students not only from Festus, but also from Crystal City, Herculaneum, De Soto, Bonne Terre, Farmington, Potosi, Fredericktown, Ironton, St. Mary’s and Ste. Genevieve, according to information the Festus R-6 School District provided.
Ernest Brown, a spokesman with the G.S.B.T.T.C. (Giving Something Back to the Community) group said Douglass Night is important because it reminds people about the time when schools were segregated.
“It’s a big part of Festus history,” Brown said. “There was this separation and people need to know what the school stood for.
“The youth don’t know about this. It’s important to pass on this information.”
Prior to the start of the basketball game, Douglass alumni will be recognized in a special ceremony on the court. During the game, the Tiger basketball players will wear Douglass Trojans throwback jerseys.
Festus last held a Douglass Night in 2020, offering similar activities.
“For our last Douglass Night, we had students put together a slide show on the historical importance of Douglass Cooperative School,” said Matt Gurnow, head of the Festus High social studies department. "They compiled a lot of information about the school. We have a lot of yearbook photos. We have highlights of the McCullough family (a prominent Black family from the area) as well. The slides show the long-lasting impact of Douglass students.”
Gurnow said he and the other members of the Festus High social studies department will talk to their students about the significance of the Douglass School in the community.
“There are seven social studies classes at the high school,” he said. “We will all be teaching on the history and traditions of the school. I would say a majority of the (Festus High) student population will have the classes on Douglass School.
“We want students to understand the lasting impact, not only on the Festus community, but the entire region,” he said. “This is simply a historical perspective on our local community, how Douglass students were integrated in area schools after (the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kan.), that schools could no longer be segregated by race.”
That decision came out in 1954, and in 1955 Festus School District Superintendent Ralph B. Tynes integrated the Festus school system, according to information from Kevin Pope, coordinator of communications and special projects for the Festus district.
Gurnow said sports seemed to help ease the transition to integration in Festus schools.
While preparing Douglass School presentations in the past, Gurnow said he talked to the late Earl Cook, the city of Festus’ only Black mayor.
“He was on the (Festus Tiger) basketball team in 1955 after integration,” Gurnow said. “He told me there was a feeling of community and togetherness rather than opposition.”
Like Brown, Gurnow said he doesn’t believe a lot of young people know about the Douglass School.
“That’s why we do this,” he said.
Gurnow said the same slide show to be presented in Festus High social studies classes will be available for viewing in the school’s foyer before and during the Douglass Night basketball game.
“I’ll probably just be around helping out in the foyer,” Gurnow said. “I’ll also answer questions.”
Douglass School students began being integrated into Festus schools in 1955, and Douglass School closed in 1959.
For more information, contact Pope at 636-638-2004 or popekevin@festusedu.com.