T. J. Raney High School
T.J. Raney High School was a segregated, private white school founded by the Little Rock Private School Corporation in September 1958. Students paid no tuition as the institution was supported by donations from the Capital Citizens Council and other private sources. The Little Rock Private School Corporation opened the school in the wake of Orval Faubus' decision to close all high schools in order to sidestep a federal desegregation order. The school was named for local businessman Thomas J. Raney.
Seven hundred and fifty students enrolled at Raney High School for the school year beginning October 22, 1958. The school remained open for only one year, graduating 188 seniors in the spring of 1959.
The school was located at the corner of Sixteenth and Lewis streets in Little Rock. The building occupied by the school was the former University of Arkansas Graduate Center. Other private schools that opened during the "Lost Year" (so-called because the four public high schools in Little Rock were closed) included Baptist High School and Trinity Interim Academy.
References
- Cynthia Howell, "T. J. Raney High Stepped in While Schools Closed," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, October 22, 2008.
