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Headquarters Gainesville, Florida, United States | ||
Lincoln High School was a school for blacks during segregation. It was founded as Union Academy a Freedmen's Bureau school in 1866. Lincoln High School was built in 1923 at Northwest 7th Avenue. When it was first constructed it only served grades 1-11, but the principal A. Quinn Jones campaigned for it to serve through grade 12 so students could graduate with diplomas and continue on to attend college or universities. In 1926, Jones succeeded to persuade the county board and Lincoln High School became the second fully accredited African-American High School in the state of Florida. The A. Quinn Jones House is preserved as a museum honoring his legacy. A new school was built for Lincoln High School in 1956 in response to the Supreme Court of the United States decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education calling for an end to segregation. Instead of integrating the county built an "equal" school for blacks at SE 12 Street, what is now Lincoln Middle School. Lincoln High School is now the A. Quinn Jones Center.
Protest
In November 1969, the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida ordered all county boards to either desegregate schools or close. Black residents in Gainesville protested the continuing segregation and all but about 70 students boycotted Lincoln High. A riot broke out on January 31, 1970 after principal John Dukes refused to desegregate and closed the school. Two teachers were hospitalized, there were 91 broken windows in the surrounding area, and Gainesville Police made 17 arrests during the day. In response to the event, the Alachua county closed all schools in the district for four days.