Booker T. Washington Hi h School

Built in 1950, the Booker T. Washington High School at 163 1 East Woodrow Place in Tulsa is not only architectural & significant but has a rich history as well. In 1973, it became the nation’s third ‘magnet school” (the first High School so designated) in an attempt to satisfy a federal court order to desegregate the district. Today, there is a long waiting list to apply to the school, but the building itself is threatened. School officials cite structural deterioration and crumbling interior finishes due to two decades of deferred maintenance as the principal reasons for a major renovation that will radically alter the existing building. Although publicly discussed plans for
the building’s redesign mentions the preservation of some significant architectural elements, like the main entrance, the Tulsa Preservation Commission nominated the building for the Most Endangcrcd List out of concern that much of its original fabric and many character-defining features still may be lost in the process.