The Highland County Historical Society has announced the opening of the long-awaited Lincoln School Exhibit on Saturday, June 3 from 1-4 p.m. at the Highland House Museum in Hillsboro.
The Lincoln School Exhibit will tell the story of the fight for integration of the Hillsboro elementary schools in the mid 1950s.
After the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, the segregation of schools based on race was deemed unconstitutional. A group of African-American mothers from Hillsboro organized under the leadership of mother and activist Imogene Curtis and marched their children to the Webster Elementary School each weekday for two years, only to be turned away. Aided by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, this case went to the Supreme Court and became the first northern test case of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The case was then used in other northern cities, such as Boston and Cleveland, to end segregation in their schools.
The case has been written about in many magazines and books.
The permanent exhibit will feature a 17-minute documentary filmed by award-winning Cincinnati documentary filmmaker Andrea Torrice of Torrice Media. The film uses some of the actual people who lived the event to tell the inspirational story of their fight for equal education. The exhibit will also show original photographs and memorabilia that have been donated to the Highland House Museum.
The exhibit has received financial support from Ohio Humanities, South Central Power, Ohio Arts, and the Stephen H. Wilder Foundation.
During the month of June, the museum will also host the nationally known Brown v. Board of Education Traveling Exhibit “In Pursuit of Freedom and Equality: Kansas and the African American Public School Experience, 1855-1955,” sponsored by the Highland County Bar Association.
Several events are scheduled at the Highland House Museum during June to celebrate the new exhibit.
On June 17 at 2 p.m. the Chillicothe Community Male Chorus, with Wayne McLaughlin, will perform. Check them out on Youtube.
On June 24 at 3 p.m. Hillsboro’s New Hope Baptist Church Choir will be singing.
“Weather permitting, bring a chair and join us out back by the cabin for these wonderful Baptist musical events,” the historical society said in a news release.
On June 29 at 7 p.m. Kenyon College Professor Ric Sheffield will speak on “In the Wake of Brown: Color of Classrooms in Rural Ohio,” sponsored by Ohio Humanities.
The Highland House Museum is located at 151 E. Main St. and is open weekends from 1-4 p.m. All events are free to the public. For more information, call 937-393-3392 or go to www.lincolnschoolhillsboroohio.weebly.com.
This story was submitted by Kati Burwinkel with the Highland County Historical Society.
