Page 16 - Wilks NCG

Lincoln Heights Rises WHAT IS A

Lincoln Heights School Continues as ROSENWALD SCHOOL?
In the Jim Crow segregation era,
Community Gathering Space Julius Rosenwald, part-owner of
Sears Co., and Booker T. Washington,
By Lydia Cobb founder of Tuskegee Institute,
established a fund that provided
grants for 5,300 schools in the South
in Wilkesboro. Work restoring the building is ongoing, for African American students. There
with a new roof as the next priority. were six other Rosenwald schools
The brick building now serves as a community built in Wilkes County, but Lincoln
center, providing space for a variety of activities, Heights is the only one still standing.
such as tutoring programs, meeting and event space, About 500 Rosenwald school
Bingo nights, youth group and church meetings, and buildings are preserved in the South.
family reunions. The Lincoln Heights Recreation The 1924 Lincoln Heights School
Corporation also hosts an annual alumni reunion and is a symmetrical, one-story, H-shaped
supper fundraisers. building constructed in the original
Although the Rosenwald Fund records called the Rosenwald School Plan No. 6-A from
school the Wilkes County Training School, and the Samuel L. Smith’s Community School
cornerstone names it the Wilkes County Colored High Plan, Bulletin No. 3.
School, it was renamed Lincoln Heights soon after If you would like to tour the
incoln Heights was a large Rosenwald school
school, help with renovations, or
L for African Americans in Wilkesboro, open construction. The name is credited to a long-time book an event, contact the Lincoln
board member at the school, Reuben H. White, who
from 1924 to 1968. This National Historic
Landmark school building – 100 years last said that he would like “to see our children reach the Heights Recreation Corporation:
lincolnheightsrosenwald.org
heights of Lincoln.”
September – educated and employed Black
southerners through the Jim Crow era to the height
of the 20th-century Civil Rights Movement. Did you Know? In
Lincoln Heights was built as a six-teacher school 1984, former Lincoln Heights
in 1924, expanding to a 10-teacher school in 1926
and a 14-teacher school in 1950. Lincoln Heights educator Elizabeth Ann
served elementary through high school Black youth Parks Grinton stood between
in Wilkes, Ashe, Alleghany, Alexander, Surry, and the school and a bulldozer
Yadkin counties – meaning that some students had to keep it from becoming
significantly longer commutes. a parking lot for the
Desegregation of Wilkes County Schools forced neighboring Career Center.
Lincoln Heights’ closure, but not its presence in the
hearts of so many of its teachers and students.
Alumni and community members have been working
to preserve and share their stories through active use
of the site today.
The Lincoln Heights Recreation Corporation owns
the Lincoln Heights School on Lincoln Heights Road

12 Lincoln Heights Rises Wilkes Chamber of Commerce