Ancestral Homeland Icon: Lincoln School, Charleston MO -PART ONE

Lincoln Elementary and High school is the alma mater of every black child who grew up in Charleston, Missouri from the time of its establishment (unknown) until 1964.   Family members: Mildred Harris Smith, Mary Harris Peterson, Jacob Harris, Ellen Harris Hudson, Peggy Harris, V. Bahiyyah Muhammad, Jeanette Harris Jefferson, George Harris, Alfred Harris, and Carolyn Harris Betts all attended this school. My brother, George was in the last graduating class. The school was located on the corner of Vine and South Elm Streets, only a couple of blocks from Perry Chapel AME church.

The school's colors were blue and white. Its mascot was the Lincoln Hornet. There was no bus service. No matter what part of town you lived in you walked to school.  All teachers including the administrative staff were African American.

 However, the school superintendents were always white.  There was a separate agriculture building and a gymnasium with a large stage for special events. I remember the gym had blue velvet drapes with a "L" monogram.  There was also a cafeteria in the basement that doubled as a class room when not in use. A large play ground with sparse equipment provided recess entertainment.

Unfortunately, historical artifacts of Lincoln have been lost or destroyed. The following is a transcript of an interview I found on the internet chronicling a brief history and synopsis of Black life in the community of Charleston. It is incomplete but helpful. I have added correct spellings as I know them and a few pictures to provide relevant context for readers familiar with the town and it’s citizens.

The Lincoln school mascot may have looked like this

Picture credit: logo lynx.com

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 [Text of interview begins here]

Charleston's African American community developed early, in the late nineteenth century, and was concentrated on the west side of town. It was composed of many former slaves. Later, in the early twentieth century, it increased substantially as black sharecroppers arrived from the Deep South. Chopping and picking cotton and other cotton-related menial labor was the mainstay of the black economy. Women served as domestics for whites as with so many other African American communities.

Early churches in the community included Perry Chapel A.M.E., Mercy Seat Baptist Church, Shiloh Baptist Church. The first known school for blacks was built after the turn of the century; it was a four- room frame building called Lincoln School. In 1931 the school was partially destroyed by fire. Because it was in unsafe condition and too costly to repair, a new school was built at the same site, on Elm Street. A ten thousand dollar bond issue was passed to finance the school, which was constructed in 1932. The new structure was 152 x 118 feet, constructed of brick veneer over ceramic block. The school had 10 classrooms, and the total cost of its construction was twenty-five thousand dollars.

Mary Harris Peterson on steps of Lincoln school

circa 1950

The high school classes served students from throughout the county who were bused to Charleston for their education. Because of the high demand for black labor in the rural areas, black students from smaller schools were required to pass a test at the end of eighth grade; those who passed went on to high school in Charleston, and the remainder went to work.

At its peak enrollment, the school served 200 students, an average of 20 per class. The 1943 Industrial and Agricultural Survey of Charleston provided an evaluation of the Charleston School system and said of Lincoln School: "The Lincoln School houses both the Negro high school and Negro elementary school. The Rosenwald Fund and the General Education Board made generous contributions toward this building and equipment. Both Charleston and Lincoln High Schools are fully approved schools of the first class."

The daily routine began with students being summoned to class by a bell (initially a hand bell and later an electric one). Prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and singing, usually "America" and "Lift Every Voice" started the actually school day. Plays, Christmas programs, eighth and twelfth-grade graduation ceremonies and dances, including a back-to-school dance, were popular community events. The high school held an annual senior prom. Boys and girls played both softball and basketball; the softball teams competed against other black teams in the county.  The basketball team competed against other area high schools, including Haiti (Hayti)

Central.

1942 team picture from Lincoln school yearbook

   Coach Garland Underwood with team members:

 Phavernon Lovings, Kasel Williams, Earl Foster

Ben Henderson, James Carroll, Garvey Foster

    Elio Crosby, James Wilson and Wellington Brown

From the 1940s through the 1960s elementary teachers included: Georgia Beal Hudson, Gussie

Savage, Arlene Wilson, Mattie R. White, Cosetta Allen, Ollie Bennett, Percival Betz, Myrtle Cole, Gracie Delamar, Roberta Hamilton, Dorothy Johnson, Myrene Moss and Ruby Ogden, Willa Hamilton, Daisy Borden, Bess Lawrence, Daisy Redd, Rose Cosby Spencer, Bobbie Spencer, Pauline Murphy, Edward Mulloms (Mullins), Mrs. Hunt, Etta Hamilton, Mrs. Emory.

 High school teachers included Wendell Phillips, Richard Reed, Jr., Hattie Corene Thomas, Mary Alice Whitaker, Edward Wills, L.W. Wilson, Jettie B. Purchase, Freddie Gordon, Dubois Jackson, Mr. Davis, Ms. Artope Jackson, Maxine Claverie, Preston Heard, John Hunt, Naomi Davis, Mr. Harroway, Clyde Curren, Jenna James. Principals included C.F. Bowden, and later, Carl Franklin. Franklin's annual message from 1955 reads (in part) as follows: "This year at Lincoln we have urged each student to develop to his maximum potential. We feel that the student must understand the values by which he lives, the assumptions on which they rest, and the consequences to which they lead. We have taught him to "Be Free," and to be free he must be capable of basing his choices and actions on understandings which he himself achieves and on values which he examines for himself.  He must be

 able to perceive and understand the events of his life and his time and the forces that

 influence and shape those events. He must recognize and accept the partial limitations which time and circumstance place on his choice and in so doing, the student has a rational grasp of himself, his surroundings, and the relationship between them."

Charleston's schools desegregated beginning in 1954; desegregation was completed in 1960. The process was a relatively smooth one. In the 1970s the older part of the original Lincoln

School was torn down to make room for a community center funded by a $250,000 grant from HUD. This unattached addition is on the south side of the building.

C.F. Bowden Center, Charleston, MO

photo credit: semissourian.com 

retrieved from internet 8/30/21

Lincoln School was the educational center of the most vital and longest-lived African American community in Mississippi County. Along with the churches it was the heart of the black community; in addition, it is significant as one of a small number of black high schools remaining in the Bootheel.

[End of Interview]

40. Description of Environment and Outbuildings

Lincoln sits on a very large lot on the west side of Charleston. There is a parking lot in front and basketball courts to the south. A baseball diamond borders the school to the northeast. The surrounding area is residential.

41. Sources of information

Heard, Preston. Interview. Tape recording. Wyatt, MO. September 13, 2002.

Missouri. Mississippi County. Recorder's Office. Deed Books. Mississippi County Courthouse, Charleston, Missouri.

Powell, Betty F., A History of Mississippi County, Missouri--Beginnings through 1972. Independence

A History of Mississippi County, Missouri--Beginnings through 1972. Independence: BNL,1975.

Turner, Debbie. Interview. Tape recording. Charleston, MO. September 14, 2002.

42. Form Prepared by 43. Organization 44. Date

Gary R. Kremer and Brett Rogers William Woods University 6/30/02

Your Family Griot, Carolyn Harris Betts