Back in 1892 Dallas, Texas established its first high school for African-American pupils, and that school, now Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, is the building in front of you. Here you are at Dallas Independent School District's arts magnet, the school that enrolls students in grades 9 through 12 and is often called simply 'Arts Magnet.' Walk this block and you feel the long sweep of history: Dallas established its first high school for African-American pupils in 1892; by 1911 that school was enlarged and named the Dallas Colored High School. In 1922 the school moved into larger quarters — a building designed by the famed Dallas architects Lang and Witchell — and was renamed Booker T. Washington High School, after the African-American education pioneer.
For many years it remained the only Dallas high school that allowed students of color. Later the campus became the magnet that educated performers and artists such as Norah Jones, Erykah Badu, Adario Strange, Valarie Rae Miller, Edie Brickell, Kennedy Davenport, Sandra St. Victor, Roy Hargrove, and Scott Westerfeld; Baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks is among the notable graduates from before the conversion to the Arts Magnet. Notice the alumni roll: Norah Jones, Erykah Badu, Edie Brickell, and Hall of Famer Ernie Banks among them.