Lincoln High School
Knowledge is power. Since Reconstruction and the establishment of the first Freedmen’s School on the western edge of Chapel Hill (where Crook’s Corner is now) in the mid-1800s, the Black community has invested in the education of its youth. Parents, teachers, and church members locked arms to support, monitor, and mentor each child. In 1930, after Chapel Hill took control of the Orange County Training School and reduced funding to the minimum six months required by law, Northside residents taxed themselves to provide for a full academic year. In 1949, students successfully rallied to throw off the stigma of a “training” school and to rename O.C.T.S. Lincoln. In 1951, when almost half of all of the high school students in Chapel Hill were Black, Lincoln got a new building on Merritt Mill Road. High-performing and competitive across the board, the new high school became the pride of Northside.
To learn more about the role of the high school in the community—and of the community in the high school—see the full Mighty Tigers interview series that we are proud to co-host with the UNC Southern Oral History Program. And listen in to David Mason, Jr. or Keith Edwards on the costs of desegregation in the late 1960s and 1970s. Consider: what can the history of Lincoln teach us about how to address segregation today?
To learn more...
Annie Hargett - On her career, father, and growing up in Chapel Hill
Betty King - On growing up in Chapel Hill, family, and Lincoln High School
Burnice Hackney - On family, school integration, and inequality in Chapel Hill
Carol Brooks and Keith Edwards - On the Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill
Charlene Smith - On her childhood, parents, education, student behavior, school integration
Charles Alston and Lewis Atwater
Clarke Egerton - On his education, band, and teachers
Clementine Self - On her childhood, civil rights, education, and school integration
Clyde Perry - On his childhood, family, education, and integration
David Kirkman - On his childhood, school integration, and career as a lawyer
David Mason, Jr. - On Black communities in Chapel Hill
David Mason, Jr. - On Lincoln High School, school desegregation, and Northside
Delaine Norwood - On her childhood, family, and education
Dennis Farrington - On his family, education, and work experiences
Diane Pledger - On her education and school experiences
Doug Clark, Sr. - On growing up in Chapel Hill and high school
Edwin Caldwell - On civil rights, education, and societal changes in Chapel Hill and Orange County
Edwin Caldwell - On the events leading up to school integration
Elizabeth Carter - On growing up in Carrboro and school integration
Emma Fowler - On growing up in Chapel Hill and Northside
Esphur and Harold Foster - On her mother, education, and impact of the Civil Rights Movement
Euzelle and R.D. Smith - On Pottersfield and Smith Middle School
Everett Goldston - On teaching before and after school integration
Frances Hargraves - On childhood, family, education, and teaching
Francesina Jackson - On integrating Chapel Hill High School and challenges faced by Black students
Francesina Jackson and Charlene Regester - On family, education, and school integration
Fred Battle - On his childhood, education, sit-ins, and school integration
Fred Battle - On the African American freedom struggle and Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill
Gloria Regester Jeter - On school integration and racial discrimination
Gloria Warren - On growing up in Carrboro and Chapel Hill, family, and education
Hilliard Caldwell - Speaking about his childhood, family, and race
James Foushee - On the Civil Rights Movement, family, and Northside
Joanne Peerman - On her childhood, education, and school integration
Keith Edwards - On growing up in Carrboro and the role of teachers
Lincoln Center

Lincoln High Band

Lincoln High Football Team.

Lincoln High Marching Band.

Lincoln High School

Lincoln High School Alma Mater

Lincoln High Silhouette, composed by Julie Mao
Mae McLendon - On motherhood and attending UNC
Marian Cheek Jackson - On St. Joseph's Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the effects of urban renewal
Mary Manning - On her childhood, education, and segregation
Mary Norwood Jones - On growing up in Carrboro and her experiences at North Carolina Central University
Mary Norwood Jones - On her experiences at Orange County Training School
Mary Scroggs - On her time serving on the school board and integration
Nate Davis - On his childhood, education, and school integration

Orange County Training School Football Team
Patricia "Pat" Jackson - On her family, faith, community, and civil rights
Polly McCauley - On growing up in Chapel Hill and her educational experiences

Program from a memorial service for Orange County Training School and Lincoln High School alumni
R. D. Smith - About his childhood, career in education, and school integration
Raney Norwood - On childhood, education, and school integration
Rebecca Clark - On her childhood, education, and school integration
Robert Campbell - Speaking about community, faith, and activism
Robert Smith - On his childhood, education, and school integration
Russell Edwards - Lincoln High and Chapel Hill High (clip)
Russell Edwards - On his family, faith, health, and upbringing
Russell Edwards - On Northside, the Civil Rights Movement, and desegregation
Sheila Florence - On her childhood, education, and school integration
Shirley Bradshaw - On her childhood, education, and school integration
Shirley Davis - On her childhood, education, and school integration
Shirley Pendergraph Davis - On the African American freedom struggle and Civil Rights Movement in Chapel Hill (Interview Two)
Stanley Vickers - On his childhood, family, and school integration
Stella Nickerson - On her childhood, family, and school integration
Sylvester Hackney - On growing up in Chapel Hill and school integration
Ted Stone - On his childhood, values, and school integration
Thomas Bell - On growing up in Northside, involvement with the community, and the Civil Rights Movement
Thomas James "Bubba" Norwood - On growing up in Carrboro and playing music in bands
Thurman Couch - On his childhood, family, and school integration
Vivian Foushee - Speaking about growing up in Chapel Hill
Walter Durham - On school integration, his childhood, and race
William Carter - On school integration and the Civil Rights Movement
Willie "Brad" Bradshaw - On his childhood, education, and career coaching sports
Willis Farrington - On growing up in Northside, his ministry, and changes in Chapel Hill
Willis Farrington - On growing up in Northside, local businesses, and Northside neighbors
"We’re writing our own history, thank you!"
Ms. Esphur Foster
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