Southwest High School opened in 1940 with a first year enrollment of 841 students in grades 9-11. Southwest was built due to overcrowding at West High School. In 1941 seniors finished out at West and graduated from West High School. West High School Mascot was the Cowboy and Southwest High School Mascot become the Indian.
In 1987 a movement started to remove the Native American images as school mascots. On May 12, 1987 the Minneapolis Board of Education voted to eliminate racial or ethnic stereotypes as images in the schools. The first class to graduate as Lakers was the class of 1988.
Pictured is the "seal" as originally designed in 1941 by Robert Ahlcrona and a drawing was made by Maurine chesney. Both were students in the third-period Advertising Art class. The pictured seal which is a duplicate of the original drawing with the exception of the words surrounding the design.
The mascot seal was install into the terrazzo floor in July of 1970. The seal remains in the floor at Southwest High School in the main hall inside the currently main door of the west building. Normally the seal is covered by a rubber mat with the Laker logo, the anchor.
Years have left their wear and tear on the design. The seal is outside the auditorium and serves as lobby for the many concerts and performances. This area is marked for renovation as the new construction moves forward beginning in spring of 2015.
What to do with the Southwest Indian Logo install in the floor?
Removing the design from the floor in good condition and repairing the terrazzo floor is expensive. Moving the Indian logo to a different placement in the building would require Board of Education approval and support of our Native Americans in the school and city.
Do you have ideas of thoughts? Please send them to me and let's see what can be done. We have less than a year.
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