In A letter written by John H. Smith, a genealogist, to the Gary Daily Tribune in January 1921 he praised the Colored teaching staff for providing excellent instructions and “In fact” ” there are no segregated schools in Gary, only so far as the parents of the children choose to make it. There is nothing to prohibit White or Negro children from going to any of the schools… it is only a matter of race pride on the part of the parents of each race.”
While voluntary segregation was prominent, civil rights activists in the city continued to protest such conditions. In April 1921, a visit from Dean William Pickens, NAACP’s associate field secretary, met with Superintendent Wirt and Gary Land Company’s H.S. Norton. He elicited statements from both their commitment to Gary NAACP that “the foundation has been firmly laid for eliminating any prejudice that might have existed.”
They were referring not to the demise of segregation, but to the attempt to provide somewhat equal facilities and opportunities for Negroes, such as the “Negro trade school” established at the 25th Avenue school, which epitomized school segregation. ‘The origins and development of the trade school are indicative of how far segregation had developed. The 21st Avenue School was moved to a new location on 25th Avenue in 1921, already the site of a white elementary school under the principalship of J.W. Stanley. There were two schools on the property at 25th and Harrison, one called Roosevelt Annex (White), the other Harrison Street School (Negro). Mr. Stanley (White) being the principal for both. There was also a trade school for Negro secondary students on the East part of the lot. In 1925 was the first year of high school being added with 19 students, Mr. F.C. Mac Farland was named assistant principal of Roosevelt Annex in 1927 and then principal in 1929. With its own Black principal and faculty, the new school remained completely separate for two years. From 1923 to 1929 both schools were placed under the direction of one white principal, Mr. Standley. In 1929 the Black school (now called Roosevelt Annex) again obtained its own black principal, F.C. MacFarland.