Benjamin Banneker School

Under an 1869 law, African-American students attended the “Colored School” on 6th Street from about 1874 to 1915. A new elementary school for black students opened here on December 7, 1915, with 93 students and 3 teachers, and a gymnasium was added in 1941-1942. Schools were integrated under Indiana law in 1949, and segregation at Banneker ended in 1951 despite protests from some citizens. Renamed Fairview Annex, the building housed integrated sixth grade classes of Banneker and Fairview students from 1951 to 1954 until the new integrated Fairview School was completed. By 1955, the building became Westside Community Center, and in 1994, after a major renovation, it was renamed Benjamin Banneker Community Center in recognition of its history as a segregated school.

Bloomington, Indiana · United States