Lincoln Institute Oral History Collection, 2003-2008 | Berea College Special Collections and Archives Catalog

Collection Overview

Title: Lincoln Institute Oral History Collection, 2003-2008

ID: RG 14/14.02

Extent: 7.0 Boxes (General)

Subjects: African Americans -- Education -- Kentucky., Berea College -- History, Lincoln Institute (Simpsonville, Ky.) -- History., Lincoln Institute (Simpsonville, Ky.)., Oral history -- Berea College (Ky).

Forms of Material: Oral history.

Languages: English

Abstract

Lincoln Institute was an all-black boarding high school in Simpsonville, Kentucky, near Louisville, that operated from 1912 to 1966. The school was created by the trustees of Berea College after the Kentucky State Legislature passed the Day Law (1904) putting an end to the racially integrated education at Berea that had existed since the end of the Civil War. The founders originally intended Lincoln to be a college as well as a high school, but by the 1930s it gave up its junior college function. Lincoln offered both vocational education and standard high school classes. The students produced the school's food on the campus' 444 acres.

Lincoln alumnus, Whitney Young, Jr., became a prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement and served as director of the National Urban League from 1961 to 1971. Born at Lincoln in 1921, he was the son of Whitney Young, Sr. who led the school as its longtime principal. The rise of integrated education reduced the need for high schools like Lincoln. Since its 1966 closing, the Lincoln campus has housed gifted and talented programs, the Whitney Young, Jr. Job Corps Center, and the Whitney Young Birthplace and Museum (a National Historic Landmark).

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection consists of recorded interviews of eighty-six individuals who were students at the Lincoln Institute at various times from the 1930s through 1966 (when the school closed). The interviews were conducted by Berea College Associate Professor of African and African-American Studies Andrew Baskin, with the assistance of Symerdar Baskin, as part of the Lincoln Institute Oral History Project.

Also included in the collection are: recordings of Lincoln Institute Reunion events and speakers; silent film footage from the 1920s and 1950s depicting campus scenes, building interiors, students, faculty, school groups such as cheerleaders and the marching band, and events such as graduations, homecoming parades, and football games; photographs in digital format of reunion activities; and reunion souvenir journals for 2004 and 2008.

Subject/Index Terms

African Americans -- Education -- Kentucky.
Berea College -- History
Lincoln Institute (Simpsonville, Ky.) -- History.
Lincoln Institute (Simpsonville, Ky.).
Oral history -- Berea College (Ky).

Administrative Information

Repository: Berea College Special Collections and Archives Catalog

Access Restrictions: Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.

Use Restrictions: Federal copyright regulations apply. Please cite all materials.

Preferred Citation: [Object identification], RG 14.02: Lincoln Institute Oral History Collection, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Berea, KY.

Finding Aid Revision History: The finding aid was created in October 2015 by Lori Myers-Steele, Collections Archivist. Links to recordings were added in 2018. Finding guide updated 2019.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project Paperwork and Print Material],
[Box 2: Original Hi8 Video Interview Recordings],
[Box 3: Original Hi8 Video Interview Recordings],
[Box 4: Original Interview Video Recordings],
[Box 5: Interview Video Viewing Copies],
[Box 6: Interview Video Viewing Copies],
[Box 7: Audio Content From Interview Video Recordings],
[All]

Box 5: Interview Video Viewing Copies

Item 1: SC-VT-584-001: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 07-29-03: Anna Warren / Vivian Overall / Wanda Brown recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-001)
Item 2: SC-VT-584-002: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 11-01-03: Herebert Dorsey / Dorthy Dowe / Bernard Minnis / Jennie Williams recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-002)
Item 3: SC-VT-584-003: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 11-15-03: Eleanor Young-Love (Daughter of Whitney Young, Sr.) recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-003)
Item 4: SC-VT-584-004: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 04-16-04: Oscar Crawford / Claude Garnett / Walter Watters / Jewell Dean Williams recorded by Andrew Baskin- Same audio as SC-CT-847-004)
Item 5: SC-VT-584-005: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 04-17-04: Geraldine Brown Lambert / Virginia Lowe Lewis / Thelzeda McElroy Moore recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-005)
Item 6: SC-VT-584-006: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 02-29-04: Sara Yocum Overall / Ronald Overall / Mary Jacobs Livers / Elizabeth Overall Yocum recorded by Andrew Baskin- Same audio as SC-CT-847-006) (1 of 2)
Item 7: SC-VT-584-007: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 02-29-04: Sara Yocum Overall / Ronald Overall / Mary Jacobs Livers / Elizabeth Overall Yocum recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-006) (2 of 2)
Item 8: SC-VT-584-008: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 02-14-04: Carl C. Talbert recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-007)
Item 9: SC-VT-584-009: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 06-19-04: Ruldolph Shaefer / George Hayden recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-008)
Item 10: SC-VT-584-010: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 06-19-04: Shirley Beaumont / Wilma Spencer recorded by Symerdar Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-009)
Item 11: SC-VT-584-011: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 06-19-04: James Beaumont / Helen Powell recorded by Symerdar Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-010)
Item 12: SC-VT-584-012: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 06-19-04: Kenneth Johnson recorded by Symerdar Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-011)
Item 13: SC-VT-584-013: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 07-31-04: Berta Gayle and Willmott South recorded by Symerdar Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-012)
Item 14: SC-VT-584-014: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 07-31-04: Wanda Sleets Smith, William E. Smith, Daniel E. Thomas, and Jewell Logan recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-013)
Item 15: SC-VT-584-015: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 07-21-04: John E. Pennington and Barbara Fair recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-014)
Item 16: SC-VT-584-016: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project - Reunion Memorial Service 07-31-04: recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-015) (1 of 2)
Item 17: SC-VT-584-017: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project - Reunion Memorial Service 07-31-04: recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-016) (2 of 2)
Item 18: SC-VT-584-018: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 09-12-04: Andrew Baskin, Veltra Moran, John Cunningham, and Judith Taylor Cunningham recorded by Andrew and Symerdar Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-017)
Item 19: SC-VT-584-019: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 09-24-04: Jacqueline Burley Fleming, Willie Fleming, Estelle Marshall, Robert Marshall, and Hattie Cottrell Payne recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-018)
Item 20: SC-VT-584-020: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 01-10-05: William Drake recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-019)
Item 21: SC-VT-584-021: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 01-10-05: Neal W. Thompson recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-020)
Item 22: SC-VT-584-022: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 01-10-05: Charles Bradley, Joan (Warren) Bradley, and Barbara (Warren) Whyte recorded by Andrew Baskn - Same audio as SC-CT-847-021)
Item 23: SC-VT-584-023: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 01-04-05: Judith Livers Lewis and Grace Mackey Fields recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-022)
Item 24: SC-VT-584-024: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 01-04-05: Charles E. Powell recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-023)
Item 25: SC-VT-584-025: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 01-15-05: Stella K. Lee / Linda L. Crittenden / Natholee B. Harris / Mary Helen Mumphrey / Etta C. Coleman / Zenda M. Jones / Maureen B. Ashby recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-024)
Item 26: SC-VT-584-026: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 01-19-05: Robert Luney / Mary Taylor / Bettye Banks / William Mack recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-025)
Item 27: SC-VT-584-027: Lincoln Institute Oral History Project INTERVIEW 01-21-05: Mary G. Collins / William Goodloe / Dicey W. Cochran / James Goodloe / Frank E. Goodloe, Jr. / John W. Smith Jr. recorded by Andrew Baskin - Same audio as SC-CT-847-026)