Garfield High School (Akron, Ohio)

Garfield High School was a public high school located off of N. Firestone Blvd. in Akron, Ohio. It was 1 of 7 high schools in the Akron Public Schools district.

History

Garfield High School, located on Firestone Blvd. in Akron, Ohio, was originally intended to be named Firestone High School. The construction of the school was being funded in large part by the Firestone family, and was intended to provide the surrounding neighborhood with one of the finest facilities in Northern Ohio, complete with a football field and Olympic size swimming pool. The surrounding neighborhood was made up almost entirely of immigrant families who worked at Firestone's rubber factories. In the 1920s, Akron, Ohio had become a stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan (in January 1925, the klan had won majority control of the Akron School Board). The Klan objected to such an outstanding school serving the children of immigrants and took steps to sabotage the plans for the school. Under the control of the Klan, a rule was passed that required all newly constructed Akron Public Schools to be named after past US Presidents. Because the school would not be named Firestone, the family pulled their funding from the project before construction was finished, leaving the school a third of its intended size with no football field of its own for home games, and what would have been the swimming pool was turned into a rifle range underneath the auditorium in the basement. In later years it was designated as a fallout shelter and then a storage room.

Garfield High School was named for James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States. The school was formally dedicated on November 19, 1926. James R. Garfield, the son of the slain president, gave the principal address at the ceremony.

In 1928, the Ku Klux Klan lost its majority on the Akron School Board; the rule regarding the naming of newly constructed schools was eventually repealed, and Firestone High School was opened at a different location in 1963. In 1966 Garfield High School became the first comprehensive high school in Akron when it opened an addition for vocational education facilities.

Garfield merged with Kenmore High School for the 2017-18 school year due to declining enrollment and rising costs.^[2] While the new building is constructed at the Garfield site,^[3] the combined school at the Kenmore location will be known as Kenmore-Garfield.^[4] Kenmore-Garfield High School opened in the fall of 2017.

Demographics

In the 2011-2012 school year, the average enrollment was 880 students. The student body was 62.1% black (non-Hispanic), 26.1% white (non-Hispanic), 5.5% multi-racial, 3.9% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 2.0% Hipanic. 87.7% of the students were classified as economically disadvantaged, and 22.1% had learning disabilities.^[5]

Notable alumni

• Ron Negray, Former MLB player (Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies)
• Antoine Winfield, Former professional football player (Cornerback) for the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks
• Chris Wells former professional football player (Halfback) for the Arizona Cardinals
• Whitney Mercilus professional football player (Linebacker/Defensive End) for the Houston Texans
• Dave Brown (cornerback) Professional Football Player (Cornerback) Super Bowl X Champion
• Ray Wise actor; most notably for his role as Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks
• Thomas Lewis former professional football player for the New York Giants
• Rick Forzano (American Football) former Head Coach of U.S. Naval Academy and NFL Detroit Lions
• Steve Wargo (IMDB) Feature Film Director of Photography, Poison Sky, Romans Road, The Controller, The Hoax.
• Prince-Tyson Gulley (American Football) Former Running Back/Return Specialist at Syracuse University, MVP of the 2012 New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
• Richard Thurman (American Football) Former Defensive Tackle for Youngstown State University, Currently coaches football in the city of Akron.
• Delma Byron, actress^[6]

^[7]

External links

• District Website

Notes and references

External links

• https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1854018/resume?ref_=nm_ov_res

Coordinates: 41°02′45″N 81°30′42″W / 41.045795°N 81.511744°W / 41.045795; -81.511744