George Washington Carver High School (Carrollton, Georgia)

While the Carrollton City School District first operated the Carrollton Public School and then the Maple Street and Carrollton High School, students of racial minority background were denied entry into these schools.

The first black school in Carrollton opened on Pearl Street in 1913. However, the original name of this school is unknown. In 1932, using funds raised from a bond issue by the city of Carrollton, along with matching funds from the Rosenwald Fund, the first school for black children that reached past elementary opened under the name Carroll County Training School. In 1954, a new building was built for grades 8-12 and was named George Washington Carver High School while the Carroll County Training School became a feeder elementary school. Carver had an initial enrollment of around 600, which remained fairly constant until the school closed. In 1965, a "school choice" plan was implemented, which allowed students to choose which high school they chose to attend regardless of race. A small number of black students chose to attend the previously all white Temple High School, but many students recall being met with racial harassment and intimidation upon first enrolling. In 1969, the courts mandated complete integration; Carver was closed and all students were reassigned to previously all-white high schools. The school reopened briefly as the integrated Alabama Street School with its absorption into the desegregated Carrollton school district.[1]

Carroll County Training School was the first school in the county to win state championships. With the conversion to Carver High, the Yellow Jackets were the first local school team to win a state title with two state championships and three district titles in the 1950s. The school is also the alma mater to Olympic Gold medalist Catherine Hardy Lavender whose team placed first in the 4x4 Women's Relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.

In the 1955 and 1956 school years, every black senior at Carver applied for admission to West Georgia College (now the University of West Georgia), and all were denied admission because of their skin color. In 2002, the college apologized, and an anonymous donor created a scholarship fund for the descendants of the students who had been denied admission.[5]

• Catherine Hardy Lavender - Olympic Gold Medalist (Carroll County Training School)
• Joshua Mabry - Carrollton Board of Education member and founder of the school district's namesake arts center (Carver High)
• Bernice Brooks - Carroll County Board of Education member (Carver High)