In 1949, Willie Arbuckle was one of Arbuckle, Robert Turner, Artie Mae Turner, Joella Arbuckle, Ernestine Jackson, Willie Ruth Payne, J. L. Payne, and Nina Loftan were the first eight Black students that began attending integrated Chandler High School in 1949, five years before the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education integrated schools nationwide. After attending segregated schools in Mesa, Phoenix, and Chandler’s Goodyear School, these groundbreaking students opened the school year as juniors, sophomores, and freshmen at Chandler High.
Willie Arbuckle and Robert Turner became the first Black students to graduate from Chandler High School in 1951.
Willie had a younger sister, Joella, and a cousin, Ernestine Jackson Johnson, who were also part of the first eight black students that attended Chandler High School.
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To listen to a two part oral history interview of Willie Arbuckle recorded on December 20, 2002, click the icons below:
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