West End High School (Birmingham, Alabama)

rdf:langString West End High School (Birmingham, Alabama)

rdf:langString West End High School

rdf:langString West End High School

rdf:langString United States

rdf:langString Lion

rdf:langString Public

rdf:langString West End High School was a public high school in the Birmingham City Schools system of Birmingham, Alabama. The school's red-brick building, completed in 1930, was a collaboration between noted local architects and David O. Whilldin. In 1963, a boycott of the school by white students took place after two African-American students tried to register for classes. Those who boycotted shouted "Two, four, six, eight, we don't want to integrate." The boycott ended in a week. On June 27, 1982, West End alumnus and shuttle pilot Henry W. Hartsfield carried a West End banner into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Under a consolidation plan approved by the Birmingham Board of Education in February 2008, West End High School was closed during the summer of 2008 with students transferring to Wenonah High School, A. H. Parker High School and Jackson-Olin High School. The closing was marked by a ceremony on June 7 with a parade, pep rally, picnic and alumni basketball game. Demolition of the school building began in March 2009. Alumni groups are active. Many classes meet annually, albeit informally. One distinguished group of alumni is known as The West End Yacht Club, which is a group of men graduated in 1968. The West End Yacht Club's members are Don Bevill, Lee Crapet, Tom Browne and James Musgrove, local executives, and an attorney, Wayne Morse, who took West End memorabilia with him when he appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States. The West End Yacht Club meets quarterly.