Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

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Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
Address
1400 W Cold Spring Lane
Baltimore, Maryland 21209
Information
School number 403
School district Baltimore City Public School System
Superintendent Dr. Andrès Alonso, CEO
Principal Dr. Barney J. Wilson
Enrollment

1,187 (2006)
School type Public, Secondary, Magnet
Grades 9-12
Language English
Area Urban
Mascot Parrot
Team name Engineers
Color(s) Orange █ and
Blue █
Founded 1883
Homepage www.bpi.edu

Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (BPI), but known most commonly as Poly, is a magnet high school in Baltimore, Maryland. Though established as an all male trade school Poly now serves as a coeducational college preparatory institution that emphasizes mathematics, the sciences, and engineering. Poly is located on a 53 acre tract of land in North Baltimore at Falls Road and Cold Spring Lane, bordering Roland Park to the east and I-83 to the west. Poly and Western High School, originally Poly's sister school, are located on the same campus and share several amenities including a cafeteria, auditorium, and athletic fields. Baltimore City College and Poly share a long standing rivalry centered around the annual City–Poly football game. Poly is a Maryland Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.

Contents

[edit] History

BPI was founded in 1883 when Joshua Plaskitt petitioned the Baltimore City authorities to establish a school for instruction in engineering. The original school was named the Baltimore Manual Training School, and its first class was made up of about sixty students, all of whom were male. The official name of the school was changed in the 1890s to the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. The first principal, Dr. Richard Grady, along with his successor, Lt. John D. Ford, helped to strengthen and develop the curriculum of the school, which gained even further acclaim during the tenure of Lieutenant William King, the third director of the school, after which King Memorial Hall is named.

Baltimore Polytechnic Institute on North Avenue
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute on North Avenue

[edit] Relocation

Due to continued growth of the student population at Poly, the school relocated in 1913 to Calvert Street and North Avenue. While at this location, the school expanded both its academic and athletic programs under the supervision of Dr. Wilmer Dehuff, arguably the most famous principal of the Institute. Dehuff later served as the president and Dean of Faculty at the University of Baltimore. Dehuff, who was principal from 1921 to 1958 also reluctantly oversaw the racial integration of the school in 1952, the first instance in City of Baltimore public schools.[citation needed]

[edit] Integration

Most Baltimore City public schools were not integrated until after the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. In the early 1950s, Poly was unusual among public high schools across the country for two reasons: its advanced college preparatory curriculum, and the fact that it would be forced to offer it to black students in 1952. The school's tough "A" course included calculus, analytical chemistry, electricity, mechanics and surveying; subjects not offered at the black schools in the City at that time.[1] Poly was a whites-only school but supported by both white and black tax dollars. No black schools in the City offered such courses nor did they have the class rooms, labs, libraries or teachers comparable to those at Poly. Due to these conditions, a group of 16 African American students, along with help and support from their parents, the Baltimore Urban League and the NAACP, applied for the engineering "A" course at the Poly.[2] The applications were denied and the students sued.

The subsequent trial on the suit began on June 16, 1952. The NAACP’s intentions were to end segregation at the 50-year-old prestigious public high school. In the Poly case, they argued that Poly’s offerings of specialized engineering courses violated the "separate but equal" clause because these courses was not offered in high schools for black students. To avoid integration, an out-of-court proposal was made to the Baltimore City school board to start an equivalent "A" course at the colored Frederick Douglass High School. The hearing on the "Douglass" plan lasted for hours with Dehuff and others arguing that separate but equal "A" courses would satisfy constitutional requirements and NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall arguing that the plan was a gamble and cost the City should not take. By a vote of 5-3, the board decided that a separate "A" course would not provide the same educational opportunities for African American students and that starting that fall, African American students could attend Poly.[3] The vote vindicated the NAACP national strategy of raising the cost of 'separate but equal' schools beyond what taxpayers were willing to pay.[4] Thirteen African American students, Leonard Cephas, Carl Clark, William Clark, Milton Cornish, Clarence Daly, Victor Dates, Alvin Giles, Bucky Hawkins, Linwood Jones, Edward Savage, Everett Sherman, Robert Young, and Silas Young, finally entered the school that fall. They were faced daily with racial epithets, threats of violence and isolation from many of the more than 2,000 students at the school.[5]

[edit] Poly Complex

Baltimore Polytechnic Institute's current building on Falls Road
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute's current building on Falls Road

In 1967, then-principal Claude Burkert (1958-1969) oversaw the relocation of his school to its current location at 1400 West Cold Spring Lane, a fifty-three acre tract of land bordering Falls Road and Roland Park. Also occupying this site is the Western High School, an all-girl school founded in 1844. Notable buildings on the campus include Dehuff Hall, also known as the academic building, where students attend normal classes, and Burkert Hall, also called the engineering building, where students attend classes in the Willard Hackerman Engineering Program. Both Western High School and Poly students make use of the auditorium/cafeteria complex, and likewise share the large gymnasium, swimming pool and sports fields. While these two schools share grounds and buildings, that is all they share: their respective academic programs are completely separate from one another. The students of each school are not allowed on the other school's grounds with out permission.

In 1974, Poly officially became coeducational when it began admitting female students. In the late 1980s, the title "principal" was changed to "director." After the retirement of Director John Dohler in 1990, Barbara Stricklin became the first woman to head the school, as she accepted the title of Interim Director. During Director Ian Cohen's tenure (1994-2003), Poly's curriculum was again expanded when it began offering AP classes. During the 2001-2002 school year, Poly was recognized by the Maryland State Department of Education when Poly was named a "Blue Ribbon School of Excellence."

In 2004 Dr. Barney Wilson, a 1976 Poly graduate became Baltimore Polytechnic Institutes' first African-American Director. A strong advocate for his students, and after only two years of work, Dr. Wilson helped the Class of 2006 achieve a 98% college acceptance rate, with over $10,000,000 in scholarships awarded - $50,000 of which came from Poly's own Alumni Association.

The Baltimore chapter of the Algebra project is active at Poly and many other Baltimore-area high schools.

[edit] Athletics

Lumsden-Scott Stadium at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
Lumsden-Scott Stadium at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

[edit] Football

Since the early 1900s, the Engineers, along with City, had dominated the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA) football scene. However, since joing the MPPSSA in 1993 Poly has has made it to the final game once in 1993, the semifinals once in 1997 and the quarterfinals in 1994 and 1998. [6]

[edit] Poly and City

Main article: City–Poly football rivalry

BPI and Baltimore City College share one of the oldest public high school football rivalries in the United States, with the first competition between Polytechnic and Baltimore City College taking place in 1889. The game was played as a scrimmage during the late 1800s with City winning all twelve scrimmages, but since then, Poly leads the series including winning 17 games in a row starting in the 1970s. For fifty years the game was played on Thanksgiving Day, but when both schools joined the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, the game was moved up two weeks so as not to conflict with MPSSAA's playoff schedule. The Poly-City game is still a regular November tradition in Baltimore City with people on each side of the divide hoping for bragging rights.

[edit] Robotics

Poly recently formed a robotics team to compete with other Maryland schools. Calling themselves the High Tech Parrots, the members of the Poly robotics team and their coach Ron Hoge created a very functional robot for the 2008 FIRST Competition. The Chesapeake regional event was held March 14 and 15 at the United States Naval Academy. Poly kept its robot in the top ten for most of the competition.[7]

[edit] Principals/Directors

  • Dr. Richard Grady (1883-1886)
  • Lt. John D. Ford (1886-1890)
  • Lieutenant William King (1890-1921)
  • Dr. Wilmer Dehuff (1921-1958)
  • Claude Burkert (1958-1969)
  • William Gerardi (1969-1980)
  • Zeney Jacobs (1980-1984)
  • Gary Thrift (1984-1985)
  • John Dohler (1985-1990)
  • Barbara Stricklin (1990-1991)
  • Dr. Albert Strickland (1991-1994)
  • Ian Cohen (1994-2003)
  • Sharon Kanter (2003-2004)
  • Dr. Barney Wilson (2004-present)

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Arts, literature and entertainment

[edit] Business

[edit] Judiciary

[edit] Legislative

[edit] Science

[edit] Sports

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Templeton, Furman L. (Winter, 1954). "“The Admission of Negro Boys to the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute “A” Course,”". The Journal of Negro Education Vol. 23 (No. 1.): 29.. Journal of Negro Education. 
  2. ^ Crockett, Sandra. "“Breaking The Color Barrier At Poly In 1952”", Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD.. 
  3. ^ Integration of Baltimore Polytechnic High School. Maryland Civil Rights.org. Retrieved on 2007-10-11.
  4. ^ Olson, Sherry H. Baltimore: The Building of an American City (1997) p. 368-69. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. ISBN 0-8018-5640-X
  5. ^ Glazer, Aaron M.. "Course Correction", Baltimore City Paper Online. Retrieved on 2007-10-11. 
  6. ^ MPSSA Football Championships Tournament History. Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  7. ^ Poly News: Robotics Team Shines at Regional Competition. Baltimore Polytechnic High School. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.

[edit] External links