Willow Run High School was a public high school in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan. It was the high school of the Willow Run School District prior to the 2013 merger with the Ypsilanti Community Schools (YCS).

The "Flyers" were the school mascot.

Willow Run High School

After the merger, Ypsilanti Community High School, located in the former Ypsilanti High School building, became the consolidated comprehensive high school for the new YCS district.

Willow Run High School

The Willow Run building now houses the Character and Restorative Education (CARE) program of YCS.

Willow Run High School

Dr. R. Wiley Brownlee

On April 3, 1971, Willow Run High principal, Dr. R. Wiley Brownlee, was driven off the road he was traveling on, then tarred and feathered by five Ku Klux Klan members to discourage his lobbying to formally recognize the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., and in an attempt to discourage him from promoting racial harmony at the high school. He went on to become deputy superintendent for Ann Arbor Public Schools in 1974.

Brownlee, an avid aviator and life-long civil rights activist, died in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on January 1, 2004.

Notable alumni

Shannon Withem, Class of 1990, Baseball Player

Nickolas Ashford, Class of 1959, Producer and Songwriter for Motown, Warner Bros. and Capital Music.

References

External links

Willow Run High School

Educational institutions disestablished in 2013

2013 disestablishments in Michigan

Schools in Washtenaw County, Michigan

Public high schools in Michigan

Tarring and feathering in the United States

History of racism in Michigan

Ku Klux Klan crimes

Ku Klux Klan in Michigan

1971 crimes in the United States