History of Howard

In 1866, General Oliver Otis Howard, leader of the Freedman’s Bureau, came to Wilmington and placed the cornerstone for the future Howard School. This occurred at the school’s original location at 12^th and Orange Street. Local funding, along with matched funds from the Freedmen’s Bureau would lead to the building of the original Howard School. On September 20, 1869, construction of the Howard School was complete.

The Howard School initially had classrooms for primary school and grammar school. Howard’s first principal’s whole name has been lost to history, but its second principal was Sallie A. Miller. She became the principal in 1876 and would continue in that role until 1883, when she was transferred to another school. Edwina B. Kruse was then promoted from assistant principal to principal, and she would remain Howard’s principal for over 30 years. Howard would also operate as a Normal School for African Americans to be trained to become teachers.

Howard started offering a high school curriculum in 1887, and in 1893, it had its first high school graduation with six students. These were the first African Americans to receive a high school diploma in Delaware. One of the last additions to Howard High School was Kindergarten, which started being offered around 1895. Howard High School would remain the only high school for African Americans in the entire state until Delaware State College, now Delaware State University, opened a high school in the 1920’s.

Howard’s third principal, Edwina B. Kruse, was from Puerto Rico. She was the daughter of a German father and a Cuban mother. Edwina received education in Massachusetts and at Hampton Institute, now Hampton University. Edwina was greatly responsible for the curriculum at Howard that included arts and trades. She was also responsible for recruiting other high-quality teachers, which all helped to set Howard apart from other schools.  Many early Howard High graduates would go on to graduate from Ivy League colleges. Howard’s Normal School would continue to be successful at teaching many future African American teachers. In 1899, there were 28 African American teachers in Wilmington, and 15 of those 28 teachers had graduated from Howard High School.

Arguably one of Edwina’s greatest recruits was Alice Dunbar-Nelson. Alice Dunbar-Nelson would become a great educator, writer, and activist throughout her life. Alice Dunbar was originally from Louisiana, and she moved near Delaware after separating from her famous husband, Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Edwina was able to bring Alice into the Howard staff as the leader of the English Department along with being an English teacher. Alice and Edwina were very close, and it is believed they, at some point, became more than friends. While in Delaware, Alice helped house another important Howard student, her niece, Pauline A. Young.

Pauline A. Young is responsible for the preservation and knowledge of the early days of Howard. Pauline was a great educator, activist, writer, and historian. Pauline A. Young moved to Delaware with her family at an early age, and she would attend Howard High School from Kindergarten through 12^th grade. Pauline graduated from the University of Pennsylvania then returned to Howard as a teacher. Pauline used this time to gather information, books and other primary documents pertaining to African American history and Howard’s history. While still teaching, Pauline was asked to organize the library at Howard High, and she started doing such a great job that she was convinced to become a librarian. Pauline would return to college, and study Library Science. Afterwards, she returned to Howard High as its librarian where she continued to organize the history contained in Howard’s library. The library in the 1927 building bears her name today.

P.S. du Pont provided the funding for the 1927 building. The school had modern classrooms, a soundproof music room, and six rooms for shops. P.S. du Pont’s funding would also allow for Howard High to buy new textbooks for the students, which often had to use old textbooks from other schools. At this time, Howard High School taught 7th grade through 12th grade. In 1941, Carver Vocational School, located on French Street between 5th and 6th, was established to teach trades and skills to black students. Howard would move its vocational department to Carver. Howard’s vocational trades continued to be taught at Carver until it closed in 1953. After Carver closed, the vocational studies resumed being taught within Howard High School, and 7th through 9th grade (Junior High) students were transferred to what would become The Bancroft School. 9th grade would return to Howard in the early 1970’s.

Renovation of the 1927 building was completed in 2018, as part of a $62 Million renovation of the entire school, bringing the building back to its original grandeur while adding today’s technology in its classrooms.

Howard’s full name had become Howard Comprehensive High School, but in 1975 it would formally become a vocational school and change its name to Howard Career Center. This vocational change led to many internal changes in Howard. The 1927 building housed the shops, and a new building was opened next door, which housed the educational classrooms in the winter of 1976. Howard would continue to build on the number of shops that it held over the years as it attracted more students to the school, especially from the suburbs. Howard would join the New Castle County Vocational School District in 1978. In the late ’80s, Howard would get its current name, Howard High School of Technology. It’s important to note that these name changes do not reflect a break in lineage as all students, staff, faculty, and friends over the years are a part of the Howard family and its rich history.