Named for Lizzie W. Coleman, principal of No. 2 Elementary School, Coleman High School was among the first high schools for African-Americans in the Mississippi Delta and served as Greenville's main high school for African-Americans until 1970. It was first located on Nelson Street, moved to Cleveland Street in 1922, and the present school, designed by architect N. W. Overstreet, was built here in 1952. Lizzie Coleman's motto was "Burn the midnight oil! Be Prepared!"