(The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center in Phoenix. Photo by Jose Garcia/aia365.com)

The crowds weren't present in this historic Phoenix building during a recent sun-soaked morning.

But the building, the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, came alive after each door was opened. From 1926-54, the building served as a high school for Blacks in central Phoenix.

Inside, the rooms turned galleries are items that tell numerous stories of success and struggle. One of the galleries is empty, however.

But Dr. Frederick H. Warren is working on filling that room with high school game footage to honor the sports legacy of the school he attended. Dr. Warren is the president of the museum’s board of directors and is reaching out to the high school sports community to help him retrieve any footage of former Carver athletes playing against other Arizona high schools.

“We want to recognize those athletes,” Dr. Warren said.

One of those athletes was George Greathouse, who scored a then state record 63 career touchdowns, a record he held for 33 years.

The Carver museum still houses some of the trophies that Carver won as well as pictures. Barry Sollenberger, the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s first historian, gave the museum photos of former Carver coaches and players he found.

Students who graduated from the school helped convert it into a museum in the early 1990s and also helped get it registered as a historical site. The building was used as a warehouse after the school closed.

High school sports fans who don’t visit the museum are passing up on a great history lesson and the chance to see the gymnasium and part of football stadium where Carver’s student athletes excelled. 

                 (Dr. Frederick Warren is standing on the only structure of Carver's football stadium that wasn't torn down. Photo by Jose Garcia/aia365.com)

Dr. Warren, 77, a retired Phoenix schools superintendent, also played for Carver, but he said he wasn’t that good of an athlete.

But what makes him great now is that he’s preserving Carver’s history.

If you have any footage of Carver athletes, please contact Dr. Warren at 602-254-7516. The museum is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and is located at 415 E. Grant in Phoenix, just two blocks south of Chase Field.

The museum doesn’t charge an entrance fee, but it does accept donations. Dr. Warren will be interviewed Saturday during the Arizona Sports Preps 365 show on 620 AM.

The show runs from 9-11 a.m., and Dr. Warren will be on at about 10:15 a.m. 

               (Dr. Frederick Warren stands in the gym Carver High students used. A new hardwood floor was installed. The museum rents the gym out for events. Photo by Jose Garcia/aia365.com)

              (Dr. Warren stands where Carver's tennis courts used to be. Photo by Jose Garcia/aia365.com)