There will be laughter, tears and great memories shared this Saturday, July 4, when students from the former Lincoln High School get together from “morning until evening” at Sonneborn Shelter in Wheeling Park.

The first school for black children in the surrounding areas was founded in 1866 and was located on the north side of 12th Street near High Street. The school had two rooms, and the teachers were the West brothers from Mount Pleasant, Ohio.

Later, the school moved to 10th and Chapline streets and was renamed Lincoln School in honor of Abraham Lincoln. Sadly the school was destroyed by fire in 1893. It temporarily moved to the old markethouse on Market Street until the new building was finished in 1894. The high school was added two years later. On a site north of the old Lincoln School, a new and modern Lincoln High was opened in the fall of 1943, serving black students from Wheeling and surrounding communities. Four years later, the new building was complete with the addition of the grade school. Two alumnus of Lincoln, John Henry Rainbow and Philip Reed, served as principals of the school.

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional. In 1956, Lincoln High and Grade schools closed and students attended their neighborhood public schools.

For more information or questions about Saturday’s reunion, call the Rev. Willie Nevels at 304-281-5053 of Dr. James Galloway at 740-676-7881.