Modern State Influence and Protest

The Rev. Ernest Smith, pastor of the local Colored Methodist Church (the C.M.E. church is now called the Cosmopolitan Methodist Episcopal Church) became the first black principal of Lincoln School in the fall of 1943. According to the Eighth Biennial Grand Reunion Lincolnite Conference Program(Los Angeles, 1990), Rev. Smith "and his black staff began the transition period that lasted about ten years." During that time, Lincoln gradually went from a private school to a public school. The AMA continued, however, to own the land and the buildings.

Rev. Smith served two years and was succeeded by Mr. Ralph Martin who served for one year only, from 1946 to 1947. One of his major accomplishments was the establishment of a farmer's co-operative.

When World War II ended, local black veterans - many of whom were former Lincoln students and graduates - returned home. They visited the campus often, as it was a sort of magnet. Veterans returned with new attitudes and feelings about themselves. Some came back with missing limbs. Many were angry and determined that their roles in the society must change. Veterans often met on the Lincoln School campus and discussed segregation and racial discrimination. Seeds of change clearly were in the wind in mid-1946. One could feel it. It is recalled that Mr. Martin sometimes spoke with veterans about conditions locally and all over the U.S.

It was on the Lincoln School campus that a march was planned. The veterans wanted to signal a protest against segregation and discrimination. Black veterans marched from the campus to the Perry County Courthouse silently, proudly and solemnly without any spoken words, except for counting cadence. White passers-by looked on in amazement. Not one word was spoken in rank. The local sheriff saw the servicemen coming, and helped direct the traffic! Upon arrival at the courthouse square, the group was dismissed and the servicemen went their separate ways - most headed for the nearest watering holes with Yours Truly among them. The group of thirty to fifty war veterans - perhaps more or a few less - from the Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Army of the United States delivered a message. It was a meaningful tacit message and there could not have been any doubts about its purpose. The message was protest. It was not fun and games.

From 1947 to 1955 Mr. Charles Fancher (later Dr. Fancher) was principal of Lincoln School. It was during his tenure that Lincoln was accredited by the Southern Association of Secondary Schools.

Mr. John H. Dickerson became principal in 1955 - a little more than two years after what many Southerners dubbed "Black Monday," May 17, 1953, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all public school systems throughout the United States must move toward racial inclusion. The Court subsequently said the move should take place with "all deliberate speed." Racial integration led to the eventual destruction of all original buildings on Lincoln School's campus except one. Lincoln School continued to operate as an all-black institution until it closed in 1970.

In 1960 the AMA removed itself completely from the school's operation. Buildings and land were sold to the State of Alabama for $62,500.

Twelve years after Mr. Dickerson became principal, on May 7, 1967, the 100th anniversary of Lincoln Normal School graduate, class of 1923, and perhaps Alabama's most distinguished black educator, was invited as quest speaker.

Three months to the day the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Class of 1943 held a 25th anniversary reunion on the campus in 1967, initiated by this writer. Two new structures, including a basketball gymnasium had been erected. The new home economics building seemed oddly out of place to old eyes with long memories. It lay partly in the space on the campus where Livingston Hall stood, and the street.

Mr. and Ms. Wilfred Gamble, Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Thomas, and Miss Ruth Nuendorffer attended. Besides, other former students not from the class of 1943 who just happened to be in Marion at the time also attended. Ten to 15 community people were present. The widow of the slain leader, Coretta Scott King, a Lincoln graduate, was there with her children.

Some 14 of the 22 member class of 1943 returned. Two of the 22 had expired, two did not respond to the request to attend, and two or three others could not return at the time. It was noted, however, that of the 39 children born to members of the class, and old enough to be in college were in college or had graduated.

Several seminal issues evolved from that class reunion in 1967. Edythe Scott Bagley presented several engaging ideas about the creation of an archives center (museum) on the Lincoln campus; the seeds for an overall new Lincoln Alumni Association were planted. Most important, however, in her presentation was a report on the research for the doctoral thesis of Dr. Horace Mann Bond. This research provided much information about Lincoln School, its graduates, and children of Lincoln School graduates. Her comments are preserved on tape.

He found that of 500 black PhDs (and others with doctorate degrees), many had roots in Perry County, Alabama, where Lincoln School was located. Sociologist Martin Trow in Social Problems: A Modern Approach, quotes Dr. Bond:

When the childhood residences of the parents and grandparents of my samples are located on a map, they cluster in localities; and these localities are likely to coincide with what had been the locations, immediately after the Civil War, of mission schools founded by Northern missionary societies.

Lincoln School was traditionally one of such schools though founded by local people, great emphasis was placed on Christian character, learning and work. Miss Phillips put it this way back in 1912:

Our pupils are taught the dignity of labor and each one has his share in the work of the school. All they ask is a fair chance, and my friends, won't you give it to them by making it possible for them to enter school?

I am convinced that it is well worthwhile to educate them. Thousands still need the chance and they must have it. Our Father in Heaven intends that they shall have it and He is using us as a means of accomplishing His purpose.

While the Class of 1943 talked about gathering again in the future, something much more remarkable occurred. Ms. Idella Childs began the work for a new Lincoln School Alumni Association. Things rolled into high gear in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1971 at the first ever big reunion. Upwards of 400 people were present, according to those who were there.