The Birmingham Times
Nearly 1,000 staff, students and alumni of Arthur Harold Parker High School celebrated 125 years of history with alumni returning to the school last week to speak with students during a four-day affair that culminated with an all-white gala Saturday evening at the downtown Sheraton Hotel.
“It was an historic, momentous occasion,” said LaKeaton Pearson, Class of 2006, of the organizing committee.
Pearson said the committee planned for around 350 but estimated 750 alumni attended all of the events, some from as far as Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The festivities kicked off Thursday with “Giving Back” where various alumni returned to the school to speak with students about tradition and pride and their experiences at the school, he said.
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“[On Thursday] we had over 50 alumni come to speak to the various classes. [On Friday] we had our annual alumni day program where we presented $50,000 in scholarships to deserving seniors,” he said.
On Friday night the school held a sneaker ball; on Saturday the alumni picnic; Saturday evening an all-white gala and on Sunday morning a breakfast and worship service. There was also a Hall of Fame ceremony where five teachers were inducted, he said.
The celebration is every five years but hadn’t been held since 2015 because of COVID in 2020, he said.
Parker was founded in 1900 with just one teacher and 19 students. Named after the school’s first principal, it was the first school that Black students could attend in Birmingham. By 1946, the school was the largest high school for Black students in the world. During the Civil Rights Movement, the students played a pivotal role in the Children’s Crusade.
