Sterling High School Students

Artist: Maria J. Kirby-Smith

On the corner of Main Street and Washington Street, a bronze sculpture portrays two African-American students proudly descending the steps of Sterling High School - Greenville's first black public high school. Numerous community leaders graduated from the school, until it was destroyed by a fire in 1967. The location of the sculpture is significant in that it is the site of the former Woolworth building where Sterling students held sit-ins and protests during the civil rights movement.