While Whitman has friendly rivalries with other schools in the county; how these schools obtained their names is often overlooked.

Jennifer Baker, Christopher Berry and Alan Goodwin, the respective principals of Walter Johnson, James Hubert Blake and our own Walt Whitman High School, gave some insight and history on the names of their schools.

Walter Johnson High School

Walter Johnson pitched for the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927. After he retired from baseball, he held public office as a Montgomery County commissioner. Johnson was one of the first to be inducted into The Hall of Fame in 1936.

Principal Jennifer Baker celebrates Johnson’s birthday with the school by sharing interesting facts about him over the announcements. The school also recognizes Johnson through its newspaper, named “The Pitch,” and the parent newsletter, “The Big Train,” which was his nickname.

Additionally, the school showcases a bronze plaque outside the gym highlighting Johnson’s accomplishments and achievements in baseball. The plaque is special to the WJ community as it honors their record-holding namesake.

“When they built Nationals Park, they wanted the plaque from our school,” Baker said. “We wouldn’t give it to them because it was donated from his family.”

Blake High School

James Hubert Blake, known as Eubie Blake, was an African-American ragtime lyricist, pianist, arranger and composer in the 1920s and ’30s. He played in nightclubs and wrote a hit musical in the midst of the roaring jazz culture. Blake’s musical, “Shuffle Along,” was one of the first to be written and directed by an African-American.

Blake High School, a school known for fine arts and humanities, is named after Blake because of his achievements in the arts.

“The naming committee decided that they wanted to choose a native Marylander who had a connection to the arts,” principal Christopher Berry said.

Murals of Blake decorate the hallways of the high school, and the jazz ensemble, called the “Eubie Blake jazz ensemble,” plays his music. History teachers discuss Blake when they teach about the prominence and importance of music during the jazz age, Berry said.

Walt Whitman High School

Whitman was an influential American poet who has written many well-known and controversial poems. He is famous for writing free-verse style poetry.

Though Whitman’s sexual identity remains ambiguous, many think he was homosexual. In 2009, the Westboro Baptist Church protested the school, following their trend of anti-homosexuality protests.

The protest brought attention and recognition to the student body, Goodwin said. Students, proud of their school’s namesake, organized a counter protest.

The English department hands out a collection of Whitman’s poems to all freshmen, but it would be beneficial to learn more about Whitman, Goodwin said.

“I would say that because our kids are pretty well-read, they have at least heard of him in English classes,” Goodwin said. “I think it would be good to devote even 15 minutes in English or history class to study him every year.”