Woodrow Wilson High School will become Dr. Dolores Silas High School officially on July 1, after the Tacoma School Board of Directors voted unanimously Feb. 11 to rename the 61-year-old school.
A celebration, hosted by students, community members and Dr. Dolores Silas herself, is scheduled for July 1 at 11 a.m. Join us for light refreshments as we commemorate this historical change.
Dolores Silas, 94, who lives in Tacoma, started as a teacher in Tacoma Public Schools. She taught at DeLong Elementary School, then became DeLong’s principal—the first Black woman to serve as an administrator in Tacoma Public Schools.
In 1991, Silas became the first Black woman to serve on the Tacoma City Council.
In addition, she has long served as a local voice for racial equity and justice as president of the Tacoma Chapter of the NAACP.
The City of Tacoma honored Silas with a Lifetime Service Award in 2019. She also received the Tacoma Historical Society’s Star of Destiny Award in 2019.
The school’s name change is fitting to a life devoted to education and public service, and the wisdom both of those bring.
The high school will retain its Ram mascot and its red, white and blue school colors.
What an honor for the old Wilson High School. I remember meeting this lady many years ago and being impressed by her intelligence and demeanor.
She is truly a very remarkable woman.
DeLong Elementary School should have had the name change, she had nothing to do with Wilson. What a sad day.