In 1929, the Rosenwald Fund provided the seed money to build a school for African-American children in Little Rock at the corner of Wright Avenue and Ringo Street, one of 338 Rosenwald Schools built in Arkansas.

The building project cost $400,000, of which $67,000 came from the Rosenwald Foundation, $30,000 from the school board, and the rest from local citizens.

In contrast, the supposedly "separate but equal" Little Rock Central High School was built in 1927 with $1.5 million in funds provided entirely by the school board.

Dunbar had 1/3 the number of classrooms and floor space, smaller faculty salaries, and no sports facilities.

[3] In 1980 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.