Black history matters
Black elected officials in Pine Bluff are moving forward on demolishing the Southeast Junior/ Senior High School, a staple of Black history on the East side.
Southeast Junior/Senior High School was once an all-Black school and a powerhouse in the Big Nine Athletic Conference, and it provided outstanding student academics. Many great leaders in the state and nationally came out of this school.
Southeast Junior/Senior High School is soon to become a forgotten memory with the demolition of the school and carrying with it is a trove of Black history — Black history that’s not revealed or kept always becomes Black history is forgotten.
The words of our Alma-Mater, “Dear Old Southeast Alma-mater, Hail to thee thy praises sing. May your colors wave forever, Honor to thee may we bring … Hail to thee, dear Southeast High — Hail all hail, all hail to thee.”
There was an effort a few years ago by Alonzo “Bubba” Pettigrew Jr., Dr. Clifford R. Flowers, Lee Chester Smith, and myself to utilize the school in a more productive way.
We met in the home of Lee Chester Smith and discussed a use for Southeast. We had some conversations with the Pine Bluff School Board about acquiring the school but the idea stalled. Our vision as Southeast alumni, make Southeast the home and hub of African American Memorabilia from Merrill, Coleman, Townsend Park and Southeast High Schools, among other things.
Southeast Junior/Senior High School, an all-Black school, has been suggested for demolition by Black officials. Gentle reader, we are losing landmarks of historic value that represent the culture and pride of the Black community.
Many Black elected officials did not attend either of the four Black high schools; therefore there is no sentimental attachment or ties. Most young Black scholars do not know of the four Black high schools in Pine Bluff, i.,e., Coleman, Merrill, Southeast and Townsend Park.
Most of these youngsters have never heard of Mr. William Townsend, a Black man. That is because Professor Townsend’s name has been erased from the history books in this city. The school that carried his name called Townsend Park is no longer in existence.
Southeast Junior/Senior High School was built in 1958 when Pine Bluff school officials recognized Merrill High School was losing the capacity to take on the growing number of African American scholars that would eventually end up attending Pine Bluff High School. With tensions boiling over in the 1957 Little Rock Central High School Crisis, it became certain Black scholars would attend the all-white Pine Bluff High School.
Therefore, another school would be built on the East side of Pine Bluff. I remember very clearly my brothers and sisters who lived on the East side were bused past Pine Bluff High School to Merrill High School. The growing number of Blacks triggered the need to build another school on the east side of the city, thus the name Southeast Junior/Senior High School.
Southeast Junior/Senior High School began receiving students in 1958, and many Black scholars that would be relocated cried and complained because they didn’t want to leave Merrill High School and come to Southeast.
I believe the attendance zones dictated the change and who attended the new school. I was among the first group of African American seventh graders in 1958 to enter the doors of Southeast Junior/Senior High School. Mr. W.T. Cheney was assigned to serve as the school’s first principal.
Before I left the board of Go Forward Pine Bluff, I requested the name “Southeast” be associated with any new tenant, in order to keep the school’s legacy alive, and the Go Forward Pine Bluff Board agreed. However, it is a sad day for Southeast Junior/Senior High School alumni throughout this city and around the country that the school will be razed.
Southeast, a landmark and a piece of Pine Bluff’s Black history, will soon be gone leaving Black folk wondering why there was no real effort to use the funding to save this historic structure. No one encouraged input from the alumni and community about this decision or what could be done to save Southeast.
Southeast Alumni should voice their opinions in person, by letters or phone calls to the mayor’s office asking for a reconsideration or giving a real reason behind this decision at the next city council meeting. Black History Matters.