As a School

Lincoln Heights School, date unknown.

Early photograph of Lincoln Heights Rosenwald School, undated.

Lincoln Heights/Various Buildings

As Lincoln Heights grew to encompass a wide variety of programs and events, the campus expanded from a single brick building to include multiple buildings on the property.

The school functioned as a County Training Center and was the only African American high school in Wilkes County, North Carolina, making Lincoln Heights Rosenwald School the first of its kind  in northwestern North Carolina.1 Mr. Ruben H. White, a member of the school board, had high hopes for the school and named it Lincoln Heights in hopes that the children who attended would “reach the heights of Lincoln.”2 The Lincoln Heights School soon became a central part of the local community. Each term lasted eight months, and the school hosted a variety of events, such as homecoming parades, balls, and sporting events.3 As a result, the school became a vital part of African American life in Wilkes and surrounding counties.4

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[1] Brenda Adams Dobbins, "Wilkes County Training Center/Lincoln Heights School, 1924-1968," (2015).

 

 

[2] Wilkes County Retired School Personnel, Lest We Forget: Education in Wilkes, 1778-1978 (Winston-Salem, NC: Hunter Publishing Company, 1979).

 

[3] Ibid.

 

[4] Brenda Adams Dobbins, “Wilkes County Training Center.”