Lincoln High School

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Lincoln High School in Dallas. Now settle in, because this one's got some real weight to it. In 1937, the Dallas school board appointed a building committee with one job: find land for a new high school for African Americans.

They found it — eleven acres, right here at this location. Eleven acres to build something the community had been needing for a long time. The campus that rose on that ground was one of the largest in the entire city.

Twenty classrooms. Chemistry and physics laboratories. An auditorium, a cafeteria, a library — all in the main building.

And nearly half the construction cost came through a federal Public Works Administration grant. So when those doors finally swung open in January of 1939, there was a lot riding on them. Twelve hundred and fifty-five students walked through.

Thirty-one teachers were ready to meet them. Now, that number — 1,255 — tells you something all by itself. Because most of those students had been crowded into the only previous school for Black students in Dallas, Booker T.

Washington, five miles to the north. Extreme overcrowding, the marker says. That phrase does a lot of quiet work.

At the helm of this new school stood Tueria Dell Marshall, the first principal, a man who would serve Lincoln High School for sixteen years. Sixteen years. He watched that enrollment climb from 1,255 to more than 3,000 students.

He is credited with bringing his students quality academic training, and when his time was done, he was buried in the historic L. Butler Nelson Cemetery — right there, adjacent to the school he had poured himself into. His beloved school, the marker calls it.

That detail sits with you. Attendance at Lincoln declined between 1960 and 1971, during an incremental desegregation plan, and new schools opening around the city trimmed enrollment further. But what Lincoln produced in those years doesn't shrink with the numbers.

More than 200 educators count themselves among its graduates. Two hundred educators sent out from one school in one neighborhood in Dallas. Now, the building itself deserves a word, because it wasn't just a building — it was a statement.

Dallas architect Walter C. Sharp designed it. Sharp had also been responsible for several schools in Arlington, Dallas, and Tyler.

The Dolph-Bateson Construction Company served as contractor. Sharp worked in what's called Moderne architecture, and he used it deliberately — window repetition and a cantilevered entry canopy pulling the eye sideways, emphasizing the horizontal. But then he balanced all that with vertical massing and a tower with glass bricks at the entrance.

That tower made the building a landmark in the neighborhood. And landmarks, the real kind, aren't just about what you can see. They're about what happened inside.

Tueria Dell Marshall is buried just next door to remind you of that. Lincoln High School is still standing here, still a landmark — carrying more than three thousand stories from its peak years, and more than two hundred teachers who went out and made more.

What the marker says

In 1937, the Dallas school board appointed a building committee to find land for a new high school for African Americans. The committee chose eleven acres at this location. Lincoln High School was one of the largest campuses in the city, with twenty classrooms, chemistry and physics laboratories, auditorium, cafeteria, and library in the main building. A federal Public Works Administration grant paid for nearly half of the construction cost. In January 1939, Lincoln High School opened its doors for the first time with 1,255 students and 31 teachers. Because of extreme overcrowding, many of these students had come from the only previous school for Blacks, Booker T. Washington (5 MI. N). Tueria Dell Marshall (1883-1960), the first principal at the new school, served for 16 years and saw the enrollment surge to more than 3,000. Marshall, credited with bringing his students quality academic training, is buried in the historic L. Butler Nelson Cemetery adjacent to his beloved school. Attendance at Lincoln declined during an incremental desegregation plan from 1960 to 1971, and new schools also trimmed enrollment. Lincoln has many distinguished graduates, counting more than 200 educators among its alumni. Dallas architect Walter C. Sharp, responsible for several schools in Arlington, Dallas and Tyler, designed Lincoln High School, and Dolph-Bateson Construction Company served as contractor. Sharp's Moderne architecture design, with window repitition and a cantilevered entry canopy emphasized the horizontal direction. The vertical massing and tower with glass bricks at the entrance made the building a landmark in the neighborhood. (2006)