A display of historical memorabilia related to the Lincoln-Grant School is open for public view in Holmes Middle School.
What would become the Lincoln-Grant School system started as the William Grant High School in Covington in 1866 to educate African American children. In 1876, the school was established as an African American public high school.
Eventually, the system expanded to include K-12 education, becoming the Lincoln-Grant School. In 1965, following desegregation, the students from the high school were integrated into Holmes High School. The elementary school continued operating until 1976 before the building was converted into the Northern Kentucky Community Center. In 2017, the building was converted again into the Lincoln-Grant Scholar House.
“What we do is try to connect the kids to a lot of their heritage that they might not know about,” said Holmes Middle School Principal Lee Turner. “Then, take them through different phases of Covington and how we got to where we’re at.”
The district hosted an event honoring the 1964 William Grant High School 9th Region boys basketball championship team on Monday. Rev. Richard Fowler, pastor of Ninth Street Baptist Church, Covington, will speak to students about the schools and the display at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
The middle school’s Youth Services Coordinator, Renata Watts, said that many of the items on display were donated by alumni.
The display will be up for the remainder of the month, at least. In addition, Anyone who wishes to contribute artifacts, photos or other items to the display should contact Watts at renata.watts@covington.kyschools.us or at (859)392-1100.
Members of the public who wish to view the display can do so during normal school hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. by signing in at the administrative office at Holmes Middle School.
View photos of items in the display below.
