Lewis High School (Macon, Georgia)


Lewis High School was a private primary and secondary school for African American students in Macon, Georgia, United States.

History

Organized and funded by the American Missionary Association in 1865, it was named for General John R. Lewis, the leader of the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgia.
The school was destroyed by arsonists in 1876, and rebuilt again. It was training teachers by 1884. It became Lewis Normal Institute in 1885 and Ballard Normal School in 1888 for donor Stephen A. Ballard. His support helped fund a new building constructed for it in 1889 as well as a dormitory for girls funded by his sister.
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. 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.
William Sanders Scarborough attended the school and returned to teach at it. He also met his wife at the school, she was a teacher.

Principals

  • Christine Gilbert
  • W. A. Hodge
  • Livia A. Shae
  • Julia B. Ford
  • Francis T. Waters
  • George C. Burrage
  • Frank B. Stevens
  • Raymond G. Von Tobel
  • Lewis Mounts
  • James A. Colston, the school's first African American principal
  • Riago Martin