Lewis High School (Macon, Georgia)
Lewis High School was a school serving African American students in Macon, Georgia. Organized and funded by the American Missionary Association,[1] it was named for General John R. Lewis, the leader of the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgia.[2]
William Sanders Scarborough attended the school and returned to teach at it. He also met his wife at the school, she was a teacher.[3]
The school was destroyed by arsonists in 1876.[2] It was rebuilt. It was training teachers by 1884.[4] It became Lewis Normal Institute in 1885 and Ballard Normal School in 1888 for donor Stephen A. Ballard.[5] His support helped fund a new building constructed for it in 1889 as well as a dormitory for girls funded by his sister.[6]
The school was relocated to a new alnost 5-acre campus in 1916 after the city purchased the existing site for the expansion of a hospital.[2][6] By 1923 it was accredited by the Georgia Department of Education. It became a public high school in 1942. In 1949 the school district discontinued use of the school building and it was sold for use as a community center in 1950.[2]
Principals[edit]
- Christine Gilbert (1880-1882)
- W. A. Hodge
- Livia A. Shae (1887)
- Julia B. Ford (1893)
- Francis T. Waters (1894)
- George C. Burrage (1895)
- Frank B. Stevens (1909).
- Raymond G. Von Tobel (1911 - 1935, when he died in a car crash)
- Lewis Mounts (acting principal)
- James A. Colston (1938 - 1943, he left.to become president of Bethune-Cookman College), the school's first African American principal
- Riago Martin (1944)[2]
References[edit]
- ^ Education, Macon (Ga ) Board of (May 30, 1898). "Annual Report of the Public Schools of the City of Macon and Bibb County, Georgia: Year Ending ..." order of the Board. – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c d e "Ballard Normal School (Macon, Ga.) | Amistad Research Center". amistadresearchcenter.tulane.edu.
- ^ Scarborough, William Sanders (May 30, 2005). The Autobiography of William Sanders Scarborough: An American Journey from Slavery to Scholarship. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0814332242 – via Google Books.
- ^ Interior, United States Department of the (May 30, 1884). "Annual Reports of the Department of the Interior ..." U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
- ^ Prater, Vickie Leach (May 30, 1999). Macon in Vintage Postcards. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738502007 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "The American Missionary". American Missionary Association. May 30, 1917 – via Google Books.
External links[edit]
Media related to Ballard Normal School at Wikimedia Commons