"From reading the variety of materials in the Sumner High School Alumni
Association Collection, I gained a wealth of information about the curriculum,
faculty, students and day to day activities of the school. However, these
materials provided me with more than pertinent historical data. I came
away from the Collection touched by the spirit and pride of the faculty
and students of Sumner who founded and continued the school. Researchers
will find these manuscripts and photographs to be a crucial resource for
an historical understanding of issues of racial segregation in our society.
And, the Collection serves as a fitting memorial to the faculty and students
who maintained Sumner High School."
Dr. Dennis P. Lawrence
"The Impact of Local, State, and Federal Government Decisions
on the Segregation and Subsequent Integration of Sumner High School in
Kansas City, Kansas," doctoral dissertation, School of Education, University
of Kansas.
Sumner High School Faculty, 1919
Sumner High School Alumni
Association Collection
Kansas Collection, Kenneth Spencer Research Library
The University of Kansas
In 1986, the Sumner High School Alumni Association, with
special assistance from former Sumner principal Solomon Thompson and the
Sumner Class of 1930, donated a substantial collection of materials documenting
the history of Sumner High School to the Kansas Collection, the regional
history division of the University of Kansas Libraries, which is located
in Spencer Research Library. The Sumner High School Collection is an important
resource for students and researchers because of the impressive contributions
made to African American education by Sumner High School, and its long
and distinguished history in the Kansas City, Kansas community.
The materials donated include a variety of manuscript and photographic
sources documenting student life, the academic curriculum, and classroom
activities throughout the school's history. Yearbooks and the Sumner
Courier provide detailed information about day to day Sumner life
and events. Included are copies of the school song, views of both the
"old" and "new" Sumner buildings, and newspaper articles featuring the
opening of the new building. Photographs depict early classroom scenes,
faculty members, graduating classes, dramatic and other performances,
and band parades. Manuscript materials document parent-teacher organizations,
Student Council activities, and instructional material.
Sumner Biology Class, 1920's
The Kansas Collection supports teaching and research by acquiring, preserving, and providing open access to historical materials relevant to the history of Kansas, its contiguous states, and the Great Plains. In 1985, working in cooperation with the Department of African and African American studies, the Library greatly expanded a collecting program designed to increase opportunities for researchers interested in state and regional African American history. The Kansas Collection is proud that the Sumner High School Alumni Association Collection is one of the earliest collections acquired through this collecting program. Through the provision of tours and special exhibitions, KU has benefited from a special relationship with the Sumner High School Alumni Association, Inc. along with the various classes holding reunions each year and the Alumni's National Convention.
