Lincoln High Culture Celebrated

By Emily Canaday

Staff Writer

A group of six Lincoln High School football players, their uniforms soiled with the sweetness of victory, huddle before the camera while reveling in their 1964 championship victory, unaware that within a mere two years the community would change forever as their beloved high school would cease to exist.

The new multimedia exhibit at the Chapel Hill Museum, "Lincoln High: The Mighty Tigers," gives a voice to the former students and the black community to express their side of the consolidation of Lincoln into Chapel Hill High School.

The exhibit, an attempt to foster better understanding between ethnicities, gives insight into how integration truly affected the black community.

History has led us to believe in the glory of integration and the transformation it brought to American society, but the multimedia exhibit brings forth a powerful and emotional message that integration is not all it is cracked up to be.

"It is a story that needed to be told," said Chapel Hill Museum Director Morgan Kenney. "It is a story of success of a good group of people during a time of heavy adversity who weren't dealt much but who made the very best of what they had to work with, producing amazing results."

From the very beginning, Lincoln High was at a disadvantage. Until the school closed in 1966, it functioned without lockers, paved sidewalks, athletic equipment or uniforms, classroom supplies, school transportation and adequate shop, science, or music classrooms.

These disadvantages did not impede the success of the school, however. Because it needed so much, the community supported the school, donating money and services and paying for the first activity bus. "Segregation left very little for black people to do, so the school became the centerpiece of the community," said 1962 graduate Fred Battle. "Lincoln was the pride of the community. It gave the people a purpose."

In addition to the overwhelming support of the community, the loyalty of the teachers and the administration was unfaltering. "The success of the school was indeed astounding, largely due to the spirit of the black community, the quality of the teachers and the intense dedication of the principal," Kenney said.

The exhibit tells of the teachers living in the same neighborhoods as the students and taking time to get to know the parents. They bought school supplies with their own money and took an interest in the futures of the pupils.

The football team was one of the most cherished elements of Lincoln. The 2-A school played in a 3-A league, and made it to in the state championship eight out of nine years, winning or tying six times. The 1964 team that won the state championship was never beaten, tied or even scored upon. Coach Willie "Brad" Bradshaw enjoyed a record of 50 wins, 3 ties and 4 losses. His successor, William Peerman, won 128 games, had 3 ties and lost only 17 games.

"Football was more than just a sport," said Bob Gilgor, interviewer and photographer for the exhibit. "It was a symbol of pride that the students, parents and larger black community had in the school, and its success was a message to outsiders that LHS stood for excellence."

This message to outsiders was answered by completely full stadiums at every game. "We would have just as many white spectators as we would black," recalled Bradshaw. "Because everyone wanted to see Lincoln because they knew that Lincoln exemplified an excellence in sports."

This football program produced Thurman Couch, who later went on to become an All-American at Iowa State.

The band at Lincoln also enjoyed success with their showy display of complex formations and high-stepping routines at football games. The orchestra