A Partial History of Lincoln High School

Present-day Lincoln-West High School was born out of a merger between Lincoln High School and West High School, last located on Franklin Boulevard. In 1970, the newly formed student body relocated to a 3-story, 250K sq. ft. building, constructed on a 5 ½ acre site in Clark-Fulton. The former high school buildings were demolished in 1977. Lincoln-West is now set to meet the same fate as its predecessors. A new state of the art school building will be built on the current site and is scheduled to open to the community by 2030 for its second act on W. 30th Street. 

The following text was found in the attic of Lincoln High School in 1976, retyped from old yellowed sheets. 

“Before the organization of Lincoln High School as a four-year school in September 1900, residents of the South Side - the district south of Walworth Run - had waged the erection of a school building in the southwest part of the city. The pupils, when attending the old West High School building, were so overcrowded that double sessions were necessary. Lincoln students occupied temporary quarters in a four-story building on Vestry Street until the completion of the building at 300 Scranton Road. The school, numbering a little less than five hundred students, relocated from Vestry Street to Scranton Road and Castle Avenue in January 1901. There were 16 teachers, led by James W. McLane, the first principal. He is remembered as a man devoted to scholarly ideals.

In the second semester of the 1916-1917 school year, 245 pupils of the seventh and eighth grades marched from Tremont Elementary School to Lincoln, and Lincoln Junior High was established. Later, seventh and eighth grade pupils from other neighboring elementary schools were sent to the new Lincoln Junior High School. By February 1921, the junior high school had far outgrown the senior. The seventh and eighth grades alone had an enrollment of 976, the ninth 413, while grades ten to twelve had only 476, making a total of 1865 in a building with a normal capacity of 1300. 

This addition of seventh and eighth graders greatly increased the numbers and crowded the building. The fourth floor, heretofore, given over to gymnasium and society rooms, became classrooms. Basement rooms came into use as class and homerooms. In September 1920, a separate building for a gymnasium was built. In 1923, to accommodate the increased numbers, an annex of nearly three dozen rooms was built. 

The school population continued to increase until it had become 2358 in grades 7 to 9, and 1762 in grades 10 to 12, making a total school enrollment of 4120. Some relief had been given when Tremont School kept its pupils through the 7B semester, sending them to Lincoln in the 7A semester. When James Ford Rhodes High School was opened, Lincoln's enrollment was reduced by 359. Of the 667 pupils entering in 1937, only 37% came from Lincoln's eighth grade, while Tremont School sent 32%, Denison 7%, parochial schools 24%.

These figures are based on the enrollment during both semesters because the public schools promote twice a year, the parochial schools, only once. Each year, the entering classes of 7B's and 9B's have outnumbered the graduating class four to one. This constantly enlarging enrollment has made the school body one of the largest in the city.

A decided change has taken place in the nationality groups represented in the neighborhood. In 1929, the principal's report to the superintendent showed that more than half of the pupils were of American born parentage and that the German group predominated among those of foreign-born parentage. Our chief nationalities ten years later are as follows:

American White 25% 

Polish 19%

Ukrainian 10%

Czech-Slovak 7%

Italian 7%

Russian 7%

German 6%

Slavic 6%

The largest single group represented, other than American-Born, is Polish. The remainder, being of other nationalities, were represented in less proportion. Last year, there was one colored pupil.

The hour of closing school has been gradually changed from twelve-thirty to three-thirty. This lengthening of the school day necessitated the cafeteria where three thousand are fed daily during the lunch periods. Wholesome, nutritious food is served with a fifteen-cent special which affords a satisfying and appetizing lunch to the growing boys and girls.

Though organized as an academic school, commercial courses were also taught. The commercial department is one of the most vigorous and flourishing electives. Manual Training and Mechanical Drawing was added to the course offerings when a building for them was erected. Applied Art was introduced, and a four-year course is offered to those wishing to elect it. Home Economics, Biology, French, Spanish, and finally Personal Regimen have enriched the curriculum. Military Training was a popular and helpful part of the school curriculum for a short period. The faculty felt that strict military discipline was of distinct value for the training of boys. Respect for rules and laws and obedience regularly constituted authority and highly desirable traits to inculcate.

None of these students appear to come from a home of great wealth, but some well-to-do homes are represented. The substantial middle class contributes its children. Many are children of professional families; many are the offspring of skilled workmen. But altogether, the social spread is very wide, so wide that the classical emphasis in the curriculum is no longer applicable. The original academic school has gradually been transformed into a cosmopolitan school offering academic, commercial, and mechanical courses to the students. With the change that has come in the character of the constituency of the school, the objectives of the pupils have changed. A larger percentage of graduates seek work immediately upon leaving school, although a very respectable number choose to continue in advanced educational institutions.

The bread-and-butter emphasis has given Lincoln some of the characteristics of a finishing school, so that it attempts to graduate its students into useful citizenship as well as into jobs, capable of maintaining worthy family life in a modern city. Health and citizenship, therefore, occupy a larger place in its activities and its guidance program. Students of exceptional ability are encouraged to go to college, and high scholarship is still stressed. A student loan fund has been built up over the years from the proceeds of school bazaars and other entertainments. In 1929, more than $5,000 of this loan fund was in the hands of former students now at college. An honor party is held each year at some theater for students standing high in scholarship.

Of the clubs in the school, four promote a common interest in foreign languages. Others recognize interests in writing, aeronautics, business, art, music, and athletics. Clubs meet after regular school hours because of the crowded curriculum program in the crowded building. The Lincoln Library, opened in 1900, contains 18,272 volumes. Circulation in 1928 was more than 59,000. 

For many years, Lincoln claimed great holding power, graduating a larger percentage of its entering classes than any other high school in the city. However, these percentages, for some years, have been declining. Of the 767 entering students in 1928, 298 graduated. Some of these withdrawals were merely transfers to other schools, but a vast number of them represented permanent withdrawals from all formal schooling, and the beginning of industrial life. The rate of withdrawals is materially affected by general economic conditions.” 

Lincoln-West High School

Lincoln-West is now home to two separate schools, the School of Science and Health, and the School of Global Studies. The two combined serve 620 students in grades 9 to 12. 40% of pupils identify as Hispanic. Each school is meeting progress expectations, a metric used by the State Board of Education to measure the growth students are making based on past performance. The former Garrett Morgan school building on Woodbine Avenue in Ohio City will serve as swing-space for Lincoln-West students as the new school is constructed. 

Lincoln-West High School at 3202 West 30th Street, circa 1970.