Quincy Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Lee, cultural diversity and civil rights. The Central District's Garfield High School, perhaps more than any other in the city, has graduated some of Seattle's most famous. During the course of its illustrious history, the 1923 school has expanded to accommodate its growing student population and its changing needs. Alterations to the school have, for some time, stayed its landmark status until the most recent district-wide capital improvement effort. On August 6, the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board will be considering what parts of Garfield should remain to tell its story.

A Political History

The Central District, one of Seattle's oldest residential neighborhoods, is known mostly for its connection to Seattle's African American history. In The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle's Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era, Quintard Taylor speaks of Garfield's role in the 1960s. While segregation may not have been officially sanctioned or supported by public officials, Seattle's racial geography, and the Central District's racial history, created Seattle's only predominantly black high school by default. Of the 1160 black students attending Seattle high schools in 1962, 75% went to Garfield.

At the time, many of Seattle's white residents did not believe the city had a problem with race relations or segregation, presumably because they did not see the evidence of inequality first hand. This undermined efforts by the city's civil rights leaders who pushed the issue of quality education for black youth. To some extent, Garfield's exceptional track record did not help their case.

Taylor quotes a school board official commenting on the issue:

"There was (in the early 1960s) a type of euphoria that sort of centered around Garfield High School . what a great multi-racial educational institution it was. We weren't in too bad shape as long as we had more people in any given year who were Garfield graduates getting their PhD's than graduates of any other school."

Garfield's statistics were impressive. Within Garfield's 1959 graduating class, 55% went to college. Racially, this broke down into 66% of the 160 white students, 57% of the 71 Asian students and 27% of the 124 black students.

By 1962, Garfield became the first predominantly black high school in the state. Soon after, Seattle became the first large US city to attempt a district-wide desegregation plan. Throughout this effort to disperse black students throughout the district, the relationship between the school buildings housing predominantly black student populations and issues of racial equity became highly politicized.

Horace Mann School, near Garfield, was one of the city's oldest schools standing in 1964. At that time, the building maintained practically all of its original historic character, but its condition was poor, and its spaces inadequate for improved educational programming. A wood frame building, its chipped paint, deteriorating wood detailing, and crumbling brick and stone basement provided a physical illustration of racial inequality in local public schools. Some activists called for its immediate closure - it was scheduled for demolition anyway. Whether or not to actively desegregate was a divisive issue within the black community in the 1960 when the school district expanded Garfield through a gymnasium addition, playfield and other site improvements.

Preserving Garfield

Throughout Garfield's history, measures have been taken to improve the quality of education within and immediately outside of its walls. Improvements and expansions have produced a somewhat overcrowded site that no longer meets the needs of its student population, and the goals of the Seattle School District.

Garfield is latest in a series of Seattle schools coming before the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board for official designation. Although many of the schools share the same architect, and have similar histories related to model educational theories of the 1910s and 20s, each is different. Each building has, to some degree, been altered over time to accommodate its continued use as a school. Each time a school enters into landmark considerations, the Board has to review the significance of the individual building, the case made by the nominator (the School District), community comment, and the character and architectural integrity of the school in question.

The original portion of Garfield, completed in 1923 by school district architect Floyd Naramore, as well as the 1929 addition, are the most likely candidates for landmark designation and controls. The original front (north) façade is vaguely Jacobean in style, with a number of terra cotta details, especially around its entrance. The 1929 addition, as with Naramore's other additions of the period, is similar in style to his earlier design. In other cases, such as the recently designated Roosevelt High School, the Board opted to designate the original portion and the addition - these were also designed by Naramore.

Also likely is the designation of a mural painted by graphic artist Irwin Caplan, who attended Garfield in 1937 when he executed the piece. Then the classroom for art instruction, the deco-style cartoon-like circus design has become a favorite among students and teachers alike. Of the several letters submitted to the landmarks board regarding Garfield's potential designation, most articulate concern that the murals should be saved, regardless of what is decided about the rest of the building.

Current conditions at Garfield, and the degree to which its configuration and physical state detract from educational goals, were primary community concerns expressed at the June 18th nomination meeting. Teachers, administrators, alumni and a representative from the Seattle Committee to Save Schools commented on the value of the existing building - most stressed its impracticality and its poor upkeep. Some proposed tearing the building down altogether while some were fine with saving the façade, but would raze the rest.

Many of these comments about the future of the building did not relate to the city's landmarks criteria then under review - discussions of use, program and feasibility are a part of the Certificate of Approval process. The landmarks board voted to study the building, its additions and site before making a final determination, so nominated the entire original building, interior, and 1929 addition.

Preserving Garfield High School obviously requires more than careful attention to the architecture. Mitigating between the significance of the place, its history and its continued role within the Central District and the Seattle Public School system is but one example of the challenges faced by the landmarks board. Garfield's integral role within Seattle's civil rights history may not be embodied in brick or terra cotta, but these elements are a part of the physical context in which all of the school's important history took place.

The final design that incorporates Garfield's past and its future will be aided by consideration of the many factors that make the school significant, not only to the students and faculty, but to the neighborhood, the city and the region. Fully exploring what distinguishes Garfield from any other school respects its uniqueness while allowing for continued growth and academic excellence into the foreseeable future.

View last month's Pending Landmarks article

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