{"nrhp_refnum":"93000998","name":"DuBois, W. E. B., School","other_names":["Wake Forest Graded School (Colored)","Wake Forest Colored High"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"536 Franklin St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wake Forest","county":"Wake County","state":"NC","lat":35.98531065700007,"lon":-78.50070892399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-10-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Black"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The W.E.B. DuBois School is a campus of brick school buildings on about four acres at Cedar and Franklin streets in a residential section of Wake Forest, Wake County, North Carolina. The historic core comprises a 1926 elementary school, a 1939 high school and a 1942 agriculture/shop building.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the campus is significant for its association with the education of black students in Wake Forest from 1926 to 1943. The 1926 building was funded in part by the Julius Rosenwald Fund, and the 1939 high school was built with Public Works Administration assistance. The document describes the complex as the only tangible remaining architectural evidence of the black community's history in Wake Forest.","narrative":"Brick school campus on about four acres in Wake Forest, built in stages from 1926 to 1942. The first building, the Wake Forest Graded School (Colored), was a seven-room school completed in 1926 with help from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, which was a major source of school construction for black students in the South. The 1939 high school, designed by consulting architect Frank B. Simpson and built by Ervin-West Construction Company with Public Works Administration funds, has a hipped roof and a decorated central portico. In 1942 a frame schoolhouse from the Ebenezer community was moved to the site, veneered in brick, and used for vocational agriculture classes. The campus was renamed for W.E.B. Du Bois in 1939 and served the black community until county schools were desegregated in 1971. It is regarded as the principal surviving record of Black education in Wake Forest before 1943, and it remains a source of pride for its alumni.","period_of_significance":"1926-1943","architect_builder":"Frank B. Simpson (architect); Ervin-West Construction Company (builder)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Vacant buildings used for storage, vandalized after the schools closed in 1989; an alumni association is working to preserve the older buildings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.151038-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/67/7186/47718667/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/93000998.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718667","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._DuBois_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20203040"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wake-county/dubois-w-e-b-school-93000998/"}