Note 347 — History of the High School for Negroes in Washington

The auditorium has a large stage, seating capacity for 1,500, with provisions made for presenting motion pictures. The pipe organ in the auditorium offers musical advantages which the pupils have never before enjoyed. The lunch room having a modern kitchen for the preparation of hot foods contributes greatly to the health and comfort of both teachers and pupils. The efficiency of the music department has been greatly enhanced by the five pianos which have been installed. Standing on the balconies provided for visitors one may see the large gymnasiums for both boys and girls in which are dressing rooms provided with shower baths and the most up-to-date equipment. The printing plant is valued at $4,000. The classes in bookkeeping and accounting will have the great advantage of receiving instruction in a real bank, for a banking department has been provided with a safe and windows and all the other modern facilities found in such an institution.

In the dining room and the living room, each having modern furniture, the girls in the domestic science course may learn by actual experience how to lay a table, arrange furniture and keep house. Botany, zoology, chemistry and physics are taught in laboratories and lecture rooms which occupy practically the whole basement floor. In the department of physics there is a particularly fine apparatus, which represents the careful collection and selection of many years. The wireless outfit which is soon to be installed will greatly increase the advantages enjoyed by the pupils. Nothing is more gratifying to the visitor than the spacious library on the second floor of the building, which is complete in its appointments, with a capacity for 4,337 volumes and facilities for the accommodation of 185 students. On the first floor are the administration offices and a study hall with a seating capacity for 106 students. In their armory under the Auditorium the Cadets have space enough for several companies and there is also a rifle range for target practice. In this new building there are 35 class rooms, 5 retiring rooms, an emergency room, 7 locker rooms and locker accommodations for 1,500 pupils. A greenhouse and a roof garden are being constructed and it is hoped that Congress may make an appropriation for building a stadium in the rear of the school.

The course of study in the Dunbar High School includes all the academic and business subjects taught in similar schools of accredited standing, as well as domestic science, printing, physical training and military science.