Lincoln Memorial High School

Lincoln Memorial High School was established in 1949 after the consolidation of Lincoln High School in the Town of Manatee and Memorial High School of Palmetto, becoming the only public high school in Manatee County that allowed colored children to attend until its closure in 1969 as part of the desegregation of the county's public school system. Its roots reached back to the early 1900s, when Garfield Devoe Rogers, the Colored Law and Order Organization, and Black residents of Manatee County purchased land for the first school for colored children in Bradenton, named Lincoln Academy, which educated students through eighth grade before adding grades nine through twelve in 1930. In 1945, the Manatee County Board of Public Instruction created Lincoln High School because of the county's growing colored population, and the former Lincoln Academy became Bradenton Elementary School. In 1944, the trustees of Memorial High School of Palmetto, Florida, led by Mrs. Arjancy C. Moss, purchased land for a school for colored students, and the two schools were joined five years later. After Brown vs. The Topeka Board of Education in 1954, the United States Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public facilities, including schools, unconstitutional and ordered desegregation, and Lincoln Memorial High School closed in June 1969. It had been one of the most important centers in the life of Manatee County's colored community, helping shape future leaders, educators, public servants, and athletes who served their community with dedication and pride.

Palmetto, Florida · United States