Booker T. Washington School

On November 13, 1922, 210 children and 6 teachers marched from two old school buildings located on Slaughter Street and Division Street to a new school for African-American students in Dover. Funding for the building was provided by the Delaware School Auxiliary Association, through the generosity of P. S. duPont. The school was named for Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), a former slave who became the nation’s foremost African-American educator. Originally built for Grades 1-8, this was the state’s largest African-American school at the time of its opening. Grades 9 and 10 were later added. S. Marcellus Blackburn was the school’s first and only principal for forty years. His daily motto was “Lest we forget.” Following integration in 1965, the school became known as West Dover Elementary. The original name was restored in 1998.