The original school was built in 1913 and was relocated in 1917 and had its name changed to Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Mr. Cicero Simmons, a graduate of Booker T. Washington's school at Tuskegee was hired as Dunbar's first principal earning a salary of $90 per month. After graduating from Dunbar, everyone attended Tucson High School.
In 1951, the school was integrated, modernized, and renamed John A. Spring.
The building you see today boarded up and fenced off is the 1917 structure. It shut its dorrs in 1958.

From 1987 Mayor Lew Murphy:
WHEREAS, in a day when Tucson was younger and immature, there was a school that would become a symbol of an unfortunate past in our community; and

WHEREAS, DUNBAR SCHOOL was a segregated experience that gave prejudice an undeserved foothold in this otherwise favorable place, where the rich tapestry of a multicultural community would eventually be woven; and

WHEREAS, despite the injustice of its being, DUNBAR provided a solid education for hundreds of black youngsters, with student bodies that produced outstanding achievers in all disciplines and adult leadership for all manner of human endeavor; and

WHEREAS, in 1951, the DUNBAR reality was ended by community conscience, but the happy memories of those who attended DUNBAR were left for them to keep and to later share; and

WHEREAS, a time to remember with a DUNBAR SCHOOL homecoming has been scheduled, with an estimated 270 former students expected to take part,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Lew Murphy, Mayor of the City of Tucson, Arizona, in order to call community attention to this event, do hereby proclaim Saturday, the 28th day of November 1987, to be
DUNBAR SCHOOL REUNION DAY
in this community, and urge that all citizens take this occasion to reflect that good memories can take wing even when denied the full flight of fancy due them.