Salina, KS- This year, the Dunbar School Alumni Association Inc. will celebrate the history of the school, its faculty and staff, and former students. A celebration of the 100th anniversary of Dunbar School will take place November 19, 2022. The Association has planned a full day of festivities to celebrate the legacy of Dunbar School. The festivities will begin at Dunbar School. 509 E. Elm at 10:00 am. The building is owned by St. Frances Ministries who will host Dunbar alumni and guests for the unveiling of a 100th Anniversary plaque, which is sponsored by Salina Public Schools. St. Francis Ministries will be presented with a framed watercolor print of Dunbar School, pained by the oldest Dunbar Alumnus, Dr. Virginia Belle Hill Ricard. The prints were made available through a grant funded by the Horizons Grant Program of the Salina Arts and Humanities Foundation. Funding is provided by Horizons, a private donor group. Guests will also have the opportunity to tour Dunbar School at end of the presentation.
Alumni and guests will attend a luncheon at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church at 12 noon. Following luncheon, the celebration will continue with a 100th Anniversary Program at Kansas Wesleyan University in Fitzpatrick Auditorium at 2:00 pm. The afternoon program will feature youth from across the community. Students in Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts will lead the posting of colors and the flag salute in honor of the Late Robert C. Caldwell who was a teacher and Principal at Dunbar and he also a Scout Master for Troop 10, and alumnus, Virginia Belle Ricard who was a national Girl Scout Board Member.
The theme of the 100th Anniversary, “Our horizon is the universe,” is taken from a quote from Paul Laurence Dunbar, for whom the school was named. A Dunbar School Proclamation will be read in honor of Dunbar School’s 100th Anniversary, that opened in the fall of 1922. The afternoon program will include the history of Dunbar School and a message from alumnus, Oliver Green, whose aunt, Bessie Green was one of the teachers who taught the first year Dunbar opened, and later his mother, Regina Green was a teacher at Dunbar.
The Dunbar School Alumni Association will also be honoring the descendants of former teachers and staff, as well as alumni who will be in attendance. All the festivities are free and open to the public. Attendees are asked to RSVP for any of the festivities that they plan to attend on the DSAA website: https://www.dunbarschoolsalina.com/rsvp
