The Educators Behind Lincoln’s Legacy

Honoring the Extraordinary Faculty of 1950

Behind every graduating class stands a group of teachers who helped make that moment possible.

When we celebrate the students of Lincoln School’s Class of 1950—their accomplishments, friendships, school spirit, and dreams—we must also celebrate the educators who prepared them to enter the world with knowledge, confidence, and purpose.

The faculty pages of Lincoln’s 1950 yearbook contain little biographical information. There are no lengthy tributes describing the teachers’ personalities, classroom styles, or personal sacrifices. Instead, we find their names, teaching assignments, colleges, degrees, and postgraduate studies.

Yet those credentials tell a remarkable story.

A Faculty of Scholars

Lincoln’s faculty was exceptionally well educated. Its teachers had studied at West Virginia State College, Bluefield State College, Morgan State College, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Wilberforce University, and Storer College—institutions with proud histories of educating African American students.

Their academic journeys also carried them to the University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia University, Columbia University, Ohio State University, Ohio University, Duquesne University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Wheeling College of Commerce.

Several held master’s degrees. Others had completed advanced or postgraduate study.

Some had earned more than one bachelor’s degree or continued their education during the summers while maintaining their professional responsibilities.

These credentials would be impressive in any era. In 1950, they were extraordinary.

Black Americans seeking higher education still confronted segregation, discrimination, financial obstacles, and institutions that restricted or denied their admission. Every degree represented years of study and perseverance within a society that placed unnecessary barriers before them.

Having overcome those barriers, these educators returned to the classroom and devoted their knowledge to the next generation.

Leadership That Began at the Top

Lincoln School was led by Principal Phillip N. Reed, whose education included study at Bluefield State College, a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and postgraduate work at Columbia University during the summers of 1948 and 1949.

Consider what that tells us about his dedication.

Even while carrying the responsibilities of leading a school, Reed continued developing his own knowledge. His education did not end when he received a diploma or accepted the principalship. He continued learning because he understood that educational leadership required constant growth.

That example must have spoken powerfully to Lincoln’s students: achievement was not a destination but a lifelong pursuit.

Building the Foundation, Grade by Grade

Lincoln’s younger students were entrusted to educators with strong and specialized academic preparation.

Helen M. Greene taught first grade after studying elementary education at West Virginia State College. Ila I. Williams, the second-grade teacher, held degrees in both secondary and elementary education from Morgan State and Bluefield State colleges. Gertrude Dickson, Thelma Mosebay, and Eileen Miller brought education degrees from Bluefield State, Ohio State, and West Virginia State.

Amanda E. Ross, who taught sixth grade, had studied at Storer College and West Virginia State and completed advanced work at both the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University. Seventh-grade teacher Leila Powell and eighth-grade teacher Cecil C. Miller each held master’s degrees in education from the University of Pittsburgh.

These teachers were building far more than academic skills. From a child’s first classroom experiences through the demanding years preceding high school graduation, they were helping students understand their own abilities and possibilities.

In segregated America, that work carried profound importance. Black children lived in a society that regularly attempted to diminish their worth. At Lincoln, they encountered accomplished Black educators whose very presence offered a powerful answer.

Every day, those students could look toward the front of the classroom and see scholarship, leadership, professionalism, and excellence.

Masters of Their Subjects

Lincoln’s upper-level faculty brought equally impressive preparation to the classroom.

English teacher Winnie P. Thomas earned her bachelor’s degree from West Virginia State College and a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Science teacher John Withers studied at Lincoln University and earned a master’s degree from West Virginia University.

Mathematics teacher O. T. Shannon held degrees from West Virginia State and the University of Pittsburgh. History teacher Mabel B. Campbell earned an advanced Master of Letters degree from Pittsburgh. Language teacher Lucille S. Rawlings also completed graduate study there.

John Wilkes Kinney brought a degree in mechanical arts from West Virginia State. Geraldine J. Newman held bachelor’s and master’s degrees in home economics and education. Music educator Ruth E. Banks studied at Wilberforce University, West Virginia State College, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Duquesne University.

Supporting the administration was Katherine Savage, secretary to the principal, who studied at West Virginia State College and the Wheeling College of Commerce.

Together, they created an education that extended well beyond the basics. Lincoln students studied literature, science, mathematics, history, languages, music, mechanical arts, and home economics. They received instruction from educators who had pursued their disciplines at respected institutions and then brought that learning home to Wheeling.

The Cruel Irony of Segregation

Segregation was designed to separate Black students and deny them equality. It was unjust, demeaning, and harmful.

Yet one of its great ironies was that Black schools often became home to extraordinarily accomplished educators. Professionals whose opportunities were restricted elsewhere poured their knowledge into Black classrooms and communities.

This does not redeem segregation. The dedication of Lincoln’s faculty should never be used to excuse the system under which they were required to work.

Instead, it reveals the determination of people who refused to allow an unjust system to decide what Black children could learn, accomplish, or become.

These teachers worked within segregation while preparing students to reach beyond it.

They taught young people to calculate, analyze, write, create, question, perform, lead, and dream. They prepared students for college, employment, military service, family life, civic leadership, and participation in a country that had not yet fulfilled its promises to them.

Their work was both educational and transformational.

The Teachers Behind My Grandmother’s Story

For me, these pages are also deeply personal.

My grandmother, Beverly Pervall, graduated from Lincoln in 1950. Her accomplishments did not emerge in isolation. They were cultivated by educators who recognized her potential, demanded her best, and helped prepare her for life beyond Lincoln.

When I read the names of these teachers, I am looking at some of the people who helped shape her.

Their lessons traveled with her long after she left the classroom. They became part of the life she built, the family she raised, and the values she passed from one generation to another. In that way, the influence of Lincoln’s teachers continues even today through the Eugene and Beverly Stradwick Heritage Foundation.

That is the enduring power of a teacher. A lesson taught to one student can echo through an entire family.

More Than Names on a Page

We may not yet know the full personal stories of Lincoln’s 1950 faculty. We may not know which teacher stayed after school to help a struggling student, who offered a timely word of encouragement, or whose classroom sparked a lifelong interest.

But the yearbook gives us a beginning.

It records their names. It documents their scholarship. It shows the breadth of their knowledge and the seriousness with which they approached their profession.

Most importantly, the lives of their students testify to their work.

Every Lincoln graduate who entered a college, office, hospital, business, military unit, classroom, church, or community organization carried something of these educators forward. Their legacy cannot be measured only by the lessons they delivered. It must also be measured through the generations of Black men and women whom they prepared to meet the world.

Today, we proudly honor Principal Phillip N. Reed; Helen M. Greene; Ila I. Williams; Gertrude Dickson; Thelma Mosebay; Eileen Miller; Amanda E. Ross; Leila Powell; Cecil C. Miller; Winnie P. Thomas; John Withers; O. T. Shannon; Mabel B. Campbell; Lucille S. Rawlings; John Wilkes Kinney; Geraldine J. Newman; Ruth E. Banks; and Katherine Savage.

They were educators, scholars, mentors, and builders of possibility.

At a time when America placed limits upon Black opportunity, they equipped their students to challenge those limits. They strengthened a school, served a community, and helped prepare a generation to move history forward.

Their work deserves to be remembered.

Their excellence deserves to be celebrated.

And their names deserve to be spoken with gratitude.

-T

Historical Terminology Note

This article includes historical terms such as “colored” and “Negro” when quoting original sources or identifying organizations as they were known at the time. These terms reflect the language and racial conditions of their era; their inclusion is not an endorsement of their use today.

In our own narrative, we use Black and African American, as appropriate. We preserve historical wording to document the past faithfully while honoring the dignity, humanity, and experiences of the people whose stories we share.