Original Lincoln High School
Remembered through Museum
By William Mack Rush
Posted: 4:49p.m .est, October 08, 2006

Class of 66 visits Lincoln Room during reunion

The Lincoln Room museum has been established to honor the "original" Lincoln High School that served as the primary public education center for Blacks in Leon County from 1869-1969. It is housed in the Lincoln Neighborhood Center on west Brevard Street, which was formally Lincoln High School.

At the time of the closing in 1969, nothing from the school was saved. A new school was built later and named Lincoln with no connection to the original Lincoln High School. It has a different mascot, colors, and none of the school records were retained from its namesake.
The City of Tallahassee acquired the property from the school board upon its closing and converted the facility into a community center which is now the site of the Lincoln Neighborhood Service Center, operated by the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services. The facility provides rental space to numerous social service agencies in addition to maintaining social programs geared toward the community.

As part of the City’s revitalization initiative in the Frenchtown community, under the direction of Tom Lewis, the City sought and received a grant from the Florida Department of State for the renovation of the existing space to create the museum.

The Lincoln Room is a 650 square foot space that contains Lincoln memorabilia and various artifacts that have been donated to the museum by former teachers and students. These items include Lincoln yearbooks, commencement programs from 1935 to 1969, sports trophies and plaques, school newspapers, numerous photos, various class DVD slide shows, plus much more.

The Lincoln Room Foundation operates the museum with support from the Lincoln Neighborhood Center staff. Its volunteer board headed by Mack Rush, includes Ann Roberts, Barrie Roberts-Ashcroft, Darryl Gilliam-Scott, Nathaniel Barnes, Theodore James, and Willie P. Jackson-Smallwood.

The museum is open during normal business hours of the Center, which is Monday - Friday from 8 AM - 5 PM in addition to special scheduling that may be arranged for reunions and other events on Saturdays.

Please contact the Center office at 891-4180 for arrangements.

 

 

 

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