Northwestern High School (Michigan)

Northwestern High School is a public high school in Detroit, Michigan. The most recent enrollment figures for Northwestern indicate a student population of approximately 2,000.

The school features numerous extracurricular activities, including Debate, US Army JROTC, and interscholastic and intramural athletics. NHS also offers several advanced placement (AP) courses.

In 2012 Southwestern High School closed; many former Southwestern students were rezoned to Northwestern.^[1]

Northwestern Colts

For more than one hundred years, Northwestern High School has produced many outstanding student athletes who excelled at the collegiate level and beyond; Colt alumni achievements include National Collegiate Athletic Association championships and Olympic gold medals.

In 2008, Northwestern High won the Detroit Public Secondary Schools Athletic League Championship in men's basketball. Since 1919, Northwestern basketball teams have claimed a total of sixteen DPSSAL titles.^[2] Northwestern also won the 1928 Michigan High School Athletic Association basketball championship.^[3]

Coach Bert Maris led Northwestern's swimming and diving program to three consecutive MHSAA team titles (1925 through 1927). In 1930, the Colt swimming team, coached by Leo Maas, won another MHSAA championship trophy;^[4] Maas also guided the school to five consecutive DPSSAL titles (1933 through 1937). To this day, Northwestern remains the only Detroit public high school to win a state team championship in the sport of swimming and diving.

The Northwestern Colts also boast an impressive record in track and field.

Bert Maris and Coach Warren Hoyt led Northwestern to the 1925 MHSAA title in track. Coach Malcom Weaver and the Colts won the state track championship in 1927, 1929 and 1930.^[5]

The Michigan high school sports archives also document Northwestern's MHSAA championship titles in tennis (1927), and cross country (1929).^[6][7]

Notable alumni

• Florence Ballard, original member of the Motown girl-group The Supremes
• Henry Carr (1961), former world record holder at 200 meters; won two gold medals at 1964 Summer Olympics; competing for Arizona State University, was national collegiate and national AAU champion; also played in National Football League, selected in fourth round of 1965 NFL Draft by New York Giants, played three seasons as a safety^[8][9]
• Albert Cleage, Christian minister; during the mid-twentieth century, was nationally recognized as a leading advocate of the civil rights movement; his first book, The Black Messiah was published in 1968^[10][11]
• John Conyers, United States Congressman (1965–present); chairman, House Judiciary Committee
• Chris Douglas-Roberts, professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks
• Forest Evashevski (1935), a 2000 inductee to the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame.^[12][13]
• Melvin Franklin (1959), bass singer for The Temptations
• Fletcher Gilders (1949), 1948 MHSAA Track and Field Athlete of the Year; in 1949, he established a national interscholastic record in pole vault (13' 3"); also a springboard diver; competed at the 1948 and 1956 US Olympic Trials^[14][15][16]
• Willie Horton, former MLB player (Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners)^[17]
• James Jamerson (1954), bass guitarist; performed on 30+ #1 Hits for Motown Records; known as the father of modern bass guitar
• Alex Johnson, former MLB player (Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, California Angels, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers)^[18]
• Ron Johnson (1974), played for Eastern Michigan University; selected in first round of 1978 NFL draft by Pittsburgh Steelers; cornerback and safety for seven seasons^[19]
• Ron A. Johnson (1965), played football at University of Michigan; in 1968 set NCAA single-game rushing record of 347 yards, versus the University of Wisconsin; selected to 1968 All-America Team; was chosen in first round of 1969 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns; traded and played six seasons for New York Giants^[20]
• Bill Jones (1984), professional basketball player^[21]
• Casey Kasem (born Kemal Amin), globally recognized radio and television personality
• Damon Keith, Senior Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Willie Kirkland, former MLB player (San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators)^[22]
• Hobie Landrith (1948), played college baseball for Michigan State; catcher for several Major League Baseball teams; first player chosen by the 1962 New York Mets expansion team
• John Mayberry, former MLB player (Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees)^[23]
• David M. Nelson (1938), 5-7, 155-pound University of Michigan halfback; played on same team with fellow NHS graduate Forest Evashevski and Californian Tom Harmon; in 1941, he led Wolverines in rushing, averaging 6.3 yards per carry; later an innovative football coach who developed the Wing T formation^[24]
• Philip Northrup (1923), top-rated long jumper among Michigan high school athletes in 1923; he became a three-time NCAA champion and four-time All-American, in the javelin throw and pole vault, for the University of Michigan (1925–27); inducted to university's Hall of Fame in 2007^{[8][25][26][27]}
• Ray Parker Jr., guitarist, songwriter, producer, recording artist; wrote theme for the blockbuster motion picture Ghostbusters
• Henry Reed, NFL player^[28]
• Carlos Rogers (1989), retired professional basketball player; first-round selection of Seattle SuperSonics during the 1994 NBA Draft^[29]
• Terry Tyler (1974), selected to Sunkist All-American Team; played for University of Detroit, then 11 seasons of professional basketball with three NBA teams^[30]
• Willis Ward (1931), won high jump at 1929 MHSAA championships; won 120 and 220-yard hurdles at 1930 MHSAA finals; set national high school mark (1.98 meters) in high jump while winning a third consecutive DPSSAL title in 1931; the second African-American to letter in football at University of Michigan; in track, three-time All-American and eight-time Big-Ten champion; later a Wayne County probate judge^[8][31]
• Mary Wells, singer with Motown Records, famous for the hit song "My Guy"
• Norman Whitfield, songwriter and producer, one of the creators of the Motown Sound

References

External links

• Detroit Public Schools

Coordinates: 42°21′29″N 83°06′11″W / 42.358°N 83.103°W / 42.358; -83.103