Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School was originally named Eastern High School. The first school building for Eastern opened in 1901 at the intersection of Mack Avenue and East Grand Boulevard.[5] b
In the fall of 1967 Eastern moved to a new building on East Lafayette and Mount Elliott,[5] and one year later was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, after the civil rights leader's assassination in April 1968. The mascot name was changed at the same time from the Indians to the Crusaders. The original Eastern High building was demolished in 1982.[5]
In 2009, Detroit Public Schools became the beneficiary of a $500.5 million, voter-approved federal bond package. At almost $53 million, the MLK project was one of the largest components of the package.[6] The redeveloped Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School re-opened in September 2011, with almost 200,000 square feet of new space, and 47,000 square feet of altered and redeveloped space. The project turned the facility into a school that emphasized a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curriculum.[6]
In 34 seasons (1984 to 2017), under Coach William Winfield, Jr., the Crusaders women's basketball program compiled 693 wins,[8] appeared in eleven
Michigan High School Athletic Association championship finals (1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2016), winning the championship in 1985, 1990, 1991, 2003 and 2006.[9] Coach Winfield retired in 2018 due to illness, and died age 78 on March 13, 2021.[8]
In 2007, under Coach Jim Reynolds, the Crusaders football team became the first team from the Detroit Public Secondary Schools Athletic League to win a
MHSAA Football Championship.[10] From 1989 to 2019, the King Crusaders appeared in seven
Michigan High School Athletic Association championship games in four different divisions (1989(A), 1990(AA), 2007(2), 2015(2), 2016(2), 2018(3), and 2019(2)), winning the championship in 2007, 2015, 2016, and 2018.[11]
In 2006, King won the Detroit City League championship trophy in men's swimming and diving.[citation needed]
Reggie Harding (1961) first-team Parade Magazine All-American in 1961; led Eastern to three consecutive Detroit Public School League basketball championships; three-time All-State selection, drafted out of high school by
Detroit Pistons; played four seasons in the
NBA[24][25]
Rod Hill (1977) former professional football player in the
NFL and
CFL[26]
Ron LeFlore, Major League Baseball player for
Detroit Tigers, two-time stolen-base champion in 1978 and 1980 (did not play baseball for high school or graduate)[28]
Coleman A. Young (1934), first served in State House of Representatives, later becoming a Michigan State Senator;
Mayor of Detroit from 1974 to 1994, the first African-American; outspoken person who lobbied at all levels for City of Detroit[44]
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Contact Us General Office of Housing & Residential LifeArchived 2015-07-10 at the
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