Morris Isaacson High School

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Morris Isaacson High School
Location
Map
1349 Mphuti Street, Central Western Jabavu, Soweto
Coordinates26°14′44″S 27°52′20″E / 26.2455°S 27.8722°E / -26.2455; 27.8722
Information
TypeGovernment
Established1956
Colour(s)    Blue and White

Morris Isaacson High School is a government secondary school in

Soweto Uprising
in 1976.

History

Morris Isaacson High School sign sponsored by Coca-Cola

The school was named for Morris Isaacson who was a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant in 1896. He had become wealthy by trading and he set up a fund for black students to complete their education to university level.[1] It was Isaacson who funded this school.[2] Isaacson gave enough money to build a school with ten classrooms and it opened in 1956 with 300 pupils when it was called "Mohloding School".[3]

During the height of apartheid, teachers at Morris Isaacson High School managed to provide good quality education, despite the oppressive limits of the underfunded Bantu Education system.[4]

On 8 June 1976, the South African Police attempted to arrest Enos Ngutshane at Naledi High School. He was the local leader of the South African Students Movement.[5] He had sent a letter to the government about the imposition of Afrikaans as the language to be used in schools. The police failed to apprehend him, and the police were stoned and a Volkswagen Beetle was set on fire by the students.[6]

On 16 June, students had gathered at Naledi High School to walk to Morris Isaacson High School in

Tsietsi Mashinini, a student at this school was a leader of the march of protest.[7] The plan was to gather at Orlando Stadium, but before that the police arrived and school children were shot.[5]

Because of the prominent role that students played in the

Soweto Uprising, Morris Isaacson High School was forced to remain shut from June 1976 until 1979.[4] When it reopened, the school managed to survive the turbulent decade of the 1980s. In 1991, a fire destroyed large portions of the school, including the administration block and damaged the library, some classes and the laboratory. [4]

In 1992, the film Sarafina! was filmed at Morris Isaacson High School. The school was chosen partly because of its association with student activism.[4]

On 1 May 1993,

Soweto Uprising
and nation's transformation.

By 1995 the school had 36 classrooms, 1100 students, and 34 teachers.[3]

Alumni

Legacy

There is a statue of Teboho Mashinini by

Youth Day commemorations of the 1976 Soweto Uprising.[4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Morris Isaacson High School.
  1. ISBN 1584653299
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1770097766
    .
  3. ^ a b Mothibeli, Tefo (17 June 1995). "HUMBLE FAÇADE OF MORRIS ISAACSON BELIES IMPORTANT ROLE PLAYED IN SA HISTORY". Sunday Star. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  4. ^
    S2CID 214194976
    .
  5. ^ a b c Nzimande, Bafana (16 June 2013). "Soweto uprising school turns 50". enca.com. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Unrest breaks out at Naledi High School as Security police confront learners". sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  7. ^ Mecoamere, Victor (27 May 2013). "Naledi High turns 50". Sowetan Live. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  8. ISBN 978-1770131101
    .
  9. ISBN 1868723542
    .
  10. ^ "Unveiling of the Tsietsi Mashinini statue". joburg.org.za. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
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