Lewis High School (Macon, Georgia)
High school in Georgia, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lewis High School (1865–1949) was a private primary and secondary school for African American students in Macon, Georgia, United States.
Ballard Normal School (1888–)
| Lewis High School | |
|---|---|
The industrial workshop and students of Ballard Normal School, c. 1910 | |
| Location | |
 | |
Macon, Georgia United States 32.8520°N 83.6463°W | |
| Information | |
| Former names | Lewis Normal Institute (1885–), Ballard Normal School (1888–) |
| Established | 1865 |
| Closed | 1949 |
History
Organized and funded by the American Missionary Association in 1865,[1] it was named for General John R. Lewis, the leader of the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgia.[2]
The school was destroyed by arsonists in 1876,[2] and rebuilt again. It was training teachers by 1884.[3] It became Lewis Normal Institute in 1885 and Ballard Normal School in 1888 for donor Stephen A. Ballard.[4] His support helped fund a new building constructed for it in 1889 as well as a dormitory for girls funded by his sister.[5]
The school was relocated to a new almost 5-acre campus in 1916 after the city purchased the existing site for the expansion of a hospital.[2][5] 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]
William Sanders Scarborough attended the school and returned to teach at it. He also met his wife at the school, she was a teacher.[6]
Principals
- 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]
