Basketball game honors school history

Arianna Peper
News/Opinion Editor

Douglass Night is an annual basketball game in honor of Douglass High School, an all African-American high school which existed from 1925 to 1956.

Starting in 2007, the tradition now involves the women’s and men’s basketball players from WGHS wearing purple and gold uniforms, which were the school colors of Douglass High School. A speech is given before the game and the night is dedicated in honor of Douglass High School. This year the double header game took place on Friday, Feb. 16, in Roberts Gym.

The Women’s Varsity Basketball team played Pattonville High School and lost 33-46 while the Men’s Varsity Basketball team played Marquette High School and won 72-69.

About Douglass Night, athletics director Jerry Collins said,“It’s a special part of our community. The school is a very significant part of our African-American history, and I just think it’s good for us to recognize and celebrate it.”

Douglass was a school that taught African-American students from Kirkwood all the way to Washington, MO, and it was located in North Webster. Once desegration happened, the students from Douglass went to Webster.

Former head Varsity basketball coach and history teacher Jay Blossom began this tradition of honoring Douglass High School in 2007.

Blossom said starting this tradition involved talking to Douglass alumni to find more information about the school itself and those who attended. Following this, they planned a night in honor of Douglass and got the word out into the community.

“We wore the traditional purple and gold of Douglass High, and that first year we had a bunch of Douglass alumni back. It was really cool and obviously we’ve kept it going and stuff, so to me it’s a really neat event and just kind of honoring what a great school Douglass was,” Blossom said.

Before it’s closing in 1932 Douglass became the only Black high school to be accredited by the state and gain membership in the prestigious North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

From 1935 to 1955, the Missouri Negro Interscholastic Athletic Association conducted state tournaments for the athletic teams of the state’s all Black schools. In that time, Douglass High won the State tournament for basketball three times including in 1955 which was the last year it was held.

“I think it’s a special night, and it’s one of the great things about Webster– the school’s ability to put on nights like this to recognize the past– some of it good and some obviously not good- but to recognize that and honor those who went to Douglass High School. It keeps the memory alive of what a great school that was and what it meant to the black community at Webster,” Blossom said.

Arianna Peper–News/Opinion Editor This will be  Arianna Peper’s first  year on ECHO staff. She made several contributions while taking journalism class her freshman year.