Highfield was the birthplace of the Zimbabwe African National Union and its immediate successor, ZANU PF. In the 1960s the suburb was home to some of most influential black nationalists in Southern Rhodesia. These included Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, the first president of ZANU, Joshua Nkomo president of ZAPU, George Nyandoro, Enock Dumbunjena, Herbert Chitepo, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, Maurice Nyagumbo, Leopold Takawira, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, Michael Mawema, and others. Takawira, the first vice-president of ZANU, was formerly the headmaster of Chipembere Primary School in Highfield.