W.P. Locker School was a public

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Wiggins, Mississippi Wiggins is a city in and the county seat of Stone County, Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Me ...

, United States. It was the only high school in Stone County for black students until the public schools were integrated in 1969. The buildings are now Stone Middle School.

History

Stone county did not provide any educational opportunities for black students past grade 8 until 1955, when Stone County Training School was built. The first high school for black students in Stone County was renamed W.P. Locker High School in 1959 in honor of W.P. Locker, who was born a slave in 1854 in North Carolina, and later became an educator. Although it was called a high school, Locker contained grades K–12. In 1969, due to federally mandated integration, the Locker students were transferred to Stone High School. Locker was demoted to a middle school, and its principal, Needham Jones, a former

Tuskegee airman The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

, was demoted to assistant principal at the middle school, although he was more qualified than the white principal of Stone. Jones sued and won, but retired rather than take the position of principal at Stone High School.

References

{{authority control Historically segregated African-American schools in Mississippi Public high schools in Mississippi Historically black schools Former high schools in Mississippi