Lowell High School is a public high school located in downtown

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

, United States. The school is a part of Lowell Public Schools. The mascot name is the Red Raider and the colors are maroon & gray. Current enrollment is over 3,500 students.

History

was incorporated as a town in 1826 and Lowell High School opened shortly after in 1831. One of its earliest homes was a small brick building on Middlesex Street owned by the Hamilton Manufacturing Company. Lowell High School was the first and remains the oldest desegregated public high school in the United States; African American Caroline Van Vronker was a student at Lowell High School in 1843, at a time when every other public high school in the United States was segregated. In 1840, the high school moved into a new building located between Kirk Street and Anne Street along the Merrimack Canal. Over the next 100 years, the school campus expanded. The oldest extant building replaced the 1840s building in 1893. In 1922, a large new building was built along Kirk Street to French Street and in the 1980s another building was built on the opposite side of the

Merrimack Canal The Merrimack Canal is a power canal in Lowell, Massachusetts. The canal, dug in the 1820s, begins at the Pawtucket Canal just above Swamp Locks, and empties into the Merrimack River near the Boott Cotton Mills. The Merrimack Canal was the f ...

with connecting walkways over the canal. In 2020, the City of Lowell began a massive redevelopment of the campus. Additions included the complete renovation of the Main and French Street buildings, the demolition of the existing 80's-era gymnasium, the construction of a new gym and five-story academic building intended for freshman use connected to the main campus, and other upgrades. LowellHighClock

Notable alumni

Charles Herbert Allen Charles Herbert Allen (April 15, 1848 – April 20, 1934) was an American politician and businessman. After serving in state and federal elected positions, he was appointed as the first United States-appointed civilian governor of Puerto Rico wh ...

(1865) Politician:

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; Governor of Massachusetts * James Cook Ayer (1838) Manufacturer: Wealthiest patent medicine businessman of his day * George D. Behrakis (1951) Founder of Dooner Laboratories and later purchased Muro Pharmaceuticals, Inc. *

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(1854) Manufacturer: Largest game manufacturer in the United States *

Benjamin Franklin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler was a ...

(1830s) Politician: Congressman; Governor of Massachusetts * George Whitefield Chadwick (1871) Musician: American composer. *

Rosalind Elias Rosalind Elias (March 13, 1930 – May 3, 2020) was an American mezzo-soprano who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera. She was best known for creating the role of Erika in Samuel Barber's '' Vanessa in'' 1958. Early ...

(1947) Musician: Opera singer * Gustavus Fox (1830s) Politician: Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War * John Galvin Jr. (1983) Athlete: Professional Football * Frederic Thomas Greenhalge (1859) Politician: Congressman; Governor of Massachusetts * Lynn Gunn (2012) Musician: Frontwoman, band '' PVRIS'' * Mary Hallaren (1925) Director:

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* Tom Hayes (1978) Businessman and Author *

Helen Sawyer Hogg Helen Battles Sawyer Hogg (August 1, 1905 – January 28, 1993) was an American-Canadian astronomer who pioneered research into globular clusters and variable stars. She was the first female president of several astronomical organizations and a ...

(1921) Astronomer * Deborah Hopkinson (1969) Author * Jujubee (drag queen) (2002) Drag queen, contestant on ''

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'' *

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...

(1939) Author: ''

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;'' ''

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'' * Ted Leonsis (1973) Businessman: Former AOL president; founder and CEO of

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* Alice Parker Lesser Lawyer, suffragist *Gerard Lew (1907) Founder:

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See Lowell Black History

University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Lowell History *Teresa Lew (1914) Teacher: See Lowell Black History

University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Lowell History * Elinor Lipman (1968) Author: ''

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'' *

Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the American Bro ...

(1940) Entertainer * Marty Meehan (1974) Politician: Democratic; Congressman, President of the

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system * F. Bradford Morse (1938) Politician: Republican; Congressman *

William Henry O'Connell William Henry O'Connell (December 8, 1859 – April 22, 1944) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death in 1944, and was made a cardinal in 1911. Early life William O'Connell ...

(1877) Cardinal: Archdiocese of Boston * Elizabeth Ordway (1846)Teacher: Early advocate for women's suffrage in Washington territory, was one of the first group of young women recruited to become teachers in pioneer Seattle in the 1860s. *

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(????) Politician: Republican; Congressman * Tom Sexton (1958) Author * Ezekiel A. Straw (1830s) Politician:

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(1933) Businessman: Owner of an original franchise, the Boston Patriots, of the American Football League *

Johnny Thomson John Ashley Thomson (April 9, 1922 – September 24, 1960) was an American racecar driver. Thomson was nicknamed "the Flying Scot." He won several championships in midget car racing, midgets and sprint car racing, sprint cars before competing in ...

(????) Race car driver:

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pole sitter *

Paul Tsongas Paul Efthemios Tsongas ( ; February 14, 1941 – January 18, 1997) was an American politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1979 until 1985 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 until 1 ...

(1958) Politician: Democratic; Congressman;

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(1991) Professional Boxer and Philanthropist * Edgar A. Wedgwood (1874) Politician: adjutant general of the Utah National Guard * Helen Augusta Whittier (1862) Businesswoman: President, Whittier Textile Company, Educator, Suffragist. See Lowell Stories: Women's History

University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Lowell History * Esther Wilkins (????) Health Care: dental pioneer and author of ''Clinical Practice of the Dental Hygienist''

References

External links

*
Lowell High School Collection
University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Lowell History {{Authority control Merrimack Valley Conference Schools in Lowell, Massachusetts Public high schools in Massachusetts 1831 establishments in Massachusetts