Education
Educational opportunities of Black Americans in the Tucson region varied over time. Early education in territorial Arizona was not yet segregated, presumably because of the small numbers of Black folks settling in the region. Pre-1900, there was one school available for all children in Tucson and it was not until 1909 that Arizona passed a law permitting the segregation of schooling based on race. This law was later amended in 1912 to make this separation mandatory rather than permissible.
By 1913, the first school for Black children was established, then called the Colored School. In 1918, this school was moved to a different location and became the Paul Lawrence Dunbar School, named after the Black poet. Dunbar, as it was known locally, started as a small, poorly funded, one room school with one teacher, but over the following 30 years, it grew to become a twelve room school, with 15 staff members supporting the education of nearly 400 students. During this time, Dunbar became a focal point for the Black Tucson community, supporting students, their families, and local community members.
In the 1920s, Tucson High School had lessened its race-based restrictions and allowed Black students to attend, although they were restricted from certain school activities and homerooms were segregated. By the 1950s, Tucson schools dismantled segregation in the school system, however, there was still unofficial segregation in the schools due to the gerrymandering of school districts based on race and ethnicity.
At the university level, segregation based on race was similar to the situation at Tucson High School. Black students were never officially restricted from enrolling at the University of Arizona, but unofficial segregation still made it difficult for students to attend. During the early 1930s, there were rarely more than 30 Black students enrolled at a time at the university. Those that were enrolled engaged in various areas of study and many students produced scholarship about Tucson that is still used today.
Though Black students were permitted to attend the University of Arizona, there were still significant restrictions on their activities. It wasn’t until 1946 that Black students could participate in school athletics. Dr. Laura Banks, credited as one of the first Black women to enter the UA in the late 1930s, recalls her time as one of great difficulty. As an elementary and physical education double major, she was required to take a swim class but was not allowed to swim with white students in the pool. With the force of her mother and the local NAACP chapter, Dr. Laura Banks was the catalyst for the first integrated pool at the UA in 1941.
By the 1960s, the enrollment of Black students at the University of Arizona increased greatly, remaining steady at about 300. Over time, Black students became increasingly involved and integrated into Tucson schools, both public and at the university level.