Custer High School (Milwaukee)

Namesake

General George Armstrong Custer

History

Custer High School was a public high school located at 5075 North Sherman Boulevard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The name of Custer High School dates to the early 1930s when it was located at what is the now closed Thomas A. Edison Middle School. The original school, located at N. 37th and W. Custer Avenue was named Custer High School after the city of Milwaukee annexed neighboring North Milwaukee in 1929.[1] By the 1950's, the need for additional services became apparent and school officials agreed to the construction of a new Custer High School building on North Sherman Boulevard in 1955. The old school was renamed Edison Junior High School. Custer High School's first principal was Raymond F. Michalak, who served from 1955 through 1969.

Nickname and Mascot

Though the school was named after American Civil War General George Armstrong Custer, neither he nor his men were honored with images or mascots. When the new school opened on Sherman Boulevard, the annual yearbook was called the Custer Warrior, the student body and athletic teams were referred to as the Custer Indians, and football players were known as the Custer Hatchetmen. School colors were red and white, and the mascot was fashioned after Hiawatha, a leader from the Mohawk tribe, Images and a story line in the 1958 and 1959 Custer Warrior yearbook depict Hiawatha learning and honing his knowledge and skills to become a leader. The school mascot was a side profile head of an American Indian chief in full feathered headdress.

Mascot Changed

In the early 1970's, the American Indian Movement (AIM) began a nation-wide campaign opposing the use of indigenous people as mascots by sports teams. In 1972, at the request of the American Indian Movement, the Appointment and Instruction Committee of the Milwaukee School Board adopted a statement that Custer High School was not named after General George A. Custer, but instead, after a man named Harvey Custer, a constable from the old town of Granville in the 1800's.[2] The movement was successful in removing Native American mascots and nicknames from many Wisconsin schools including Custer High School in 1992, when the name and mascot were changed to the Custer Cougars.[3]

Custer Controversy

In 1972, Milwaukee superintendent of schools, Richard P Gousha, said there was "no conclusive evidence the school was named after Gen. George Custer," but rather, after Custer Ave. where the original Custer High School was located. Gousha said that Custer Ave. was named after Harvey Custer, a constable from the old town of Granville in the 1800s. The school board committee then concluded that the school was named after the street, and the street was named after Harvey Custer, not Gen. George Custer. American Indian Movement (AIM) leader, Herbert Powless said AIM "had no problem as long as Custer High School was not named after the famed Indian fighter."[2]

Further investigation shows that "Harvey Custer," the constable being referred to, never existed. He was the fabricated result of a transcription error. The man's name was actually "Harvey Carter," but The Illustrated Historical Atlas of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, published in 1876, misspelled Harvey Carter’s name as "Custer" when listing the men elected as the first officials of the Town of Granville.[4] Granville Town Board minutes and census records from 1840 list the Constable as Harvey Carter. Carter is also listed in the 1842 and 1846 Granville census records. There are no records of a Harvey Custer ever living there.

As for Custer Avenue, the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds records show Custer Avenue was initially named in “Payne’s Addition,” a subdivision planned in 1892 by Henry Clay Payne.[5] As was a custom of the period, Payne's development pattern included new streets named after Civil War Generals Philip Sheridan, Lewis Wallace, and George A. Custer. Wallace avenue was eventually renamed but Sheridan and Custer avenues still exist. Custer Avenue and Custer High School were, in fact, named after American Civil War General George Armstrong Custer.[6] The entire controversy ended when the school was renamed.

School Renamed

In 2011, the school was renamed the Milwaukee Campus for Trades, Technology and Media, with a focus on vocational and technology programs. Subsequently, the Milwaukee Public School Board decided to add the Barack Obama K-8 School to the same campus due to available space as part of its school consolidation program. The entire school complex was later renamed Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education in a controversial vote (5/4) by the board.[7] Today, the school website tells visitors the school "fosters an educational environment that aligns curriculum and instruction to specific learning goals and the common core standards."[8]

Notable Alumni

References
  1. "Urban spelunking: Old North Milwaukee, Custer High & Edison Middle Schools". OnMilwaukee. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  2. Milwaukee Journal Staff (26 Apr 1972). "School Integration Hurt By Nixon, Jackson Says". The Milwaukee Journal Newspaper.
  3. Dombeck, Tom. "A symbol of pride or racism? Native American sports mascots debate hot in Wisconsin". Herald Times Reporter. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  4. H. Belden and Co. (1976). "Illustrated Historical Atlas of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin". History of Milwaukee County-Part 3: 85 – via Wisconsin Historical Society. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Supervisors, Milwaukee County (Wis ) Board of (1894). Proceedings of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Milwaukee. The Board.
  6. Baehr, Carl. "City Streets: Custer's Last Stand in Milwaukee". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  7. "'Barack Obama School' name change splits Milwaukee board". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  8. "Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education —". www5.milwaukee.k12.wi.us. Retrieved 2021-01-25.

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