Photo: Relay runners

It is unlikely that everyone pictured ran in the relay race that led to the awarding of this banner 105 years ago. Nonetheless, they all proudly shared in their team’s success. While we don’t know many people in this 1914 Durango High School picture, the African American man, Justin Barnett, is well known. He went on to serve his country as a soldier in World War I, where he was wounded. In 1917, the Army was still strictly segregated, so Barnett was not allowed to join his fellow recruits for their farewell parade, which was brimming with fanfare as they left the train station en route to basic training. In an editorial, the Durango Herald-Democrat lamented this discrimination and requested that Barnett receive the same send-off as his fellow inductees. When Barnett was finally sent on his way to war a short time later, a large crowd gathered at the train depot to give him the same farewell celebration he was earlier denied. <br><br>Ed Horvat for The Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org