West Charlotte High School

This collection of photographs shows student life in West Charlotte High School from its days as a segregated institution to the 1990s. 

1. Michelle Brier and Nicole Quimet in the halls of West Charlotte, 1992.
2. Priscilla Johnson and Willie Spencer at the Junior-Senior Prom in 1966
3. Johniola Jones and Shannon Jackson celebrate West Charlotte's 27-0 victory over Independence, 1978.
4. Fontella Walker, Marty Johnson, and Rosa Davis on the school steps in the early 50s. West Charlotte High School opened in 1938 in the building which is presently Northwest School of the Arts. The school housed grades 7 - 12.
5. The Male Quartet -- Willie Walker, John Black, Johnny Chambers, and Henry Eily -- on the steps of West Charlotte in the early 1950s.
6. West Charlotte's 1950 senior prom.
7. Hortense Reid directs the choir's 1961 spring concert.
8. January 25, 1967  - West Charlotte basketball player Ephran McDaniels comes down empty-handed.
9. John Holloway conducts the West Charlotte orchestra in 1961.
10. In 1953, West Charlotte staged The Mikado, its first full musical production.
11. Christmas play in the 1960s.
12. Coach Jack Martin with Wendell Wilkinson (20) and John Grange (11) in 1961.
13. October 25, 1963  - Each fall West Charlotte played Second Ward High in the Queen City Classic football game. Claudette Irby was crowned the 1963 queen by E. E. Waddell, principal of Second Ward and Clinton Blake, principal of West Charlotte.
14. February 20, 1974 - West Charlotte students at the city square protest planned changes by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board proposed revising the school's traditional educational approach to a modern "open" style. The school board did go on to add an "open" component at the school which used teaching methods different from traditional classrooms. The Open School attracted many strong and committed teachers and helped the school build an excellent reputation.
15. Charlotte and Boston, MA students discuss integration with the press in 1974. West Charlotte students begin corresponding with Boston high school students in 1974 about how to make integration work. Boston's school system was struggling with desegregation and busing. West Charlotte had made it work. In the fall, Boston students came to Charlotte to talk with students and teachers.
16. In 1984, James Daughtry dressed as the Statue of Liberty for a student fundraising effort.
17. Classmates Antoine Perry and Kemisha Perry hug after the 1990 graduation ceremonies.