Black Author Locker Wall

A collaboration between the students and faculty advisors of the National Art Honor Society and the Social Studies Honor Society to commemorate Black History Month resulted in a striking display on the lockers lining the hallway of House II offices.

In an impressive exhibit, painted lockers give the impression of a row of books, each spine a colorful representation of the work of Black authors from time periods spanning the Civil War, Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Movement, and the modern era.  

The project joins multiple other important civil rights artistic pieces that share the hallway.

About 30 students worked on the project, the first collaboration between the Art and Social Studies honor societies and by all accounts, it won’t be the last. “Many teachers have expressed that we should expand the project to the other side of the hallway next to the House II Office,” said Social Studies teacher Jon Beck. 

The authors represented include Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Langston Hughes, Zora Hurston, Countee Cullen, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange, Toni Morrison, Bell Hooks, Michelle Alexander, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Margot Lee Shetterly, and Amanda Gorman.

A group of teachers selected the authors and book titles, and then students got to work creating the locker displays, painting the lockers with the book titles and details. 

Mr. Beck hopes the Locker Project will remain on display for several years, with 18 colorful book titles for all to enjoy.