Lincoln School, also known as Lincoln Hall, Building A: Graft Vocational and Technical, Eastwood Junior High School, New Lincoln Colored School, is a historic

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

building located in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

. The school was constructed in 1930. It has undergone multiple additions, but the main part of the original building remains intact. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2000. In 1991, the building became part of

Ozarks Technical Community College Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC) is a public community college in Springfield, Missouri. It was established by Springfield and thirteen surrounding public school districts on April 3, 1990. It has six locations in southern Missouri. St ...

campus.

History

Built in 1930, the building was designed by supervising architect William B. Ittner and designing architects Hawkins and Nicholas. It is a two-story,

Modern Movement Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

style red brick building with a modified "U"-plan and Art-Deco façade. The land was bought for $15,000 by the school board and the building was built by the M.E Gillioz Construction Company. The school was originally built for African-American students and its construction was funded in part by an $8,000 grant provided by the Rosenwald Foundation. Originally called New Lincoln Colored School, it was called Lincoln School by the end of construction.

Highschool

It opened in 1931 with fifteen total rooms and twelve teachers, with an industrial arts emphasis. Lincoln school was the home of Boy Scout troop 35 starting the same year it opened. In 1932, the students from the closed Douglas School were transferred to Lincoln School. Its presence as Lincoln school ended in 1955 with the ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

'' Supreme Court decision to desegregate schools. The last class was given the choice to either transfer to a previously all-white school nearby or stay at the school. When Springfield schools became integrated in the 1955–1956 school year, it was renamed Eastwood Junior High School.

Vocational school

In 1962, the school closed and became Graff Vocational and Technical School. The building became part of the

Springfield campus in 1991 and its name was changed to Building A. It was renamed Lincoln Hall in 1998 to honor its history. Three additions have been made to the building on the north, east, and south sides. In 2000, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ozarks Technical Community College

The building hosts technical education classes and houses and Allied Health education program. Lincoln School Plaque (cropped)

Notable alumni

* Mary Jean Price Walls, first African American applicant to Missouri State University in 1950. Honorary degree in 2010.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Missouri African-American history of Missouri School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Modernist architecture in Missouri School buildings completed in 1930 Buildings and structures in Springfield, Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Missouri 1930 establishments in Missouri