Old Claymont High School, also known as the Green Street School, was constructed in 1924-25 and became prominent in United States history as the first public high school in the 17 segregated states to be legally integrated. In January 1951, eight black students applied for admission, but under the “separate but equal” education system then in place, the Claymont Board of Education could not permit their entry. In July 1951, civil rights attorney Louis L. Redding of Wilmington filed a civil action seeking the students’ admission. On April 1, 1952, Delaware Chancellor Collins J. Seitz issued a landmark decision declaring that opportunities for black students in local schools were not equal to those of whites and that the situation should be remedied immediately. The Delaware Supreme Court upheld the decision. On September 3, 1952, the Claymont Board voted to admit 12 students, and with their parents, the board, and Redding, quickly made legal preparations for their admission on September 4. When school administrators were ordered on September 5 by the State Board of Education and the Delaware Attorney General to send the students home to await a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Claymont Superintendent H.E. Stahl and the local Board refused and successfully insisted that the students remain enrolled. Mrs. Pauline Dyson, a long-time teacher of Claymont’s black students, worked closely with school district officials and the community to ensure the effort succeeded. The Delaware case was later included for argument in the famous Brown vs. Board of Education suit, and Claymont’s first integrated class graduated in 1954.

Photo: Beverly Pfingsten