W. O. Boston High School

William Oscar Boston High School
Address
Map
600 South Shattuck Stret

Lake Charles
,
(Calcasieu Parish)
,
Louisiana
70601

United States
Coordinates30°13′51″N 93°11′49″W / 30.2307°N 93.1969°W / 30.2307; -93.1969
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1949
Closed1983
Color(s)Red and white    
NicknamePanthers

W. O. Boston High School was an American public high school in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Named in honor of William Oscar Boston,[1] it opened in 1949 as a segregated school for Blacks.[2][3] It was renamed from Second Ward Colored School, which had been in the community since the late 19th century.[4] W. O. Boston's first principal was Ralph C. Reynaud.[1]

W.O. Boston and his wife, Mary, circa 1939

In sports, the W. O. Boston Panthers won three state titles in 1972 in boys basketball, girls track and field, and football.[5]

In 1983, the school merged with Lake Charles High School to form Lake Charles-Boston.[4][6][7] At the time, W. O. Boston was predominantly Black, while Lake Charles was racially relatively even. The school board supported the merger to eliminate a one-race school. Blacks opposed it, contending that it destroyed Calcasieu Parish's best example of racial balance. The resulting Lake Charles-Boston was 78.2 percent Black and 21.8 percent White. Blacks also disagreed that Barbe High School, which was predominantly White, was largely unaffected by the board's desegregation plan.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Black History Month: W.O. Boston & R.C. Reynaud". KPLC. February 28, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  2. ^ "W.O. Boston Negro high school dedicated". Louisiana Digital Library. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  3. ^ "W. O. Boston School". Louisiana Digital Library. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Hutchings, Jessica (2015). Lake Charles. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 44–45. ISBN 9781467113281. Retrieved January 20, 2023 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Arceneaux, Warren (December 4, 2022). "'We were like family': In December 1972, W.O. Boston High School Panthers beat Haynesville 11-6 to claim state football title". American Press. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  6. ^ "Lake-Charles-Boston tough test for Bunkie". Daily World. September 21, 1989. p. 12. Retrieved January 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "School Plan Is Protested". The Daily Advertiser. AP. January 20, 1983. p. 6. Retrieved January 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Hearings Ordered In School Case". The Daily Advertiser. AP. October 27, 1983. p. 18. Retrieved January 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.