Skip to Main Content
African American
- A county with a history...Home to 16 Rosenwald Schools, Lincoln Academy, and others, Gaston County, North Carolina has had a legacy with African American education. Gaston County H.E.T. Diversity Awareness and Recognition Subcommittee.
- Gaston County African American Resources Survey, 2000 [PDF] by Emily Ramsey & Lara Ramsey, Consultants for North Carolina Historic Preservation Office (November 9, 2000). Located at Architectural Survey Records & Reports.
- Med Week '93 Minority Enterprise Development Week. A booklet detailing the history of Minority Enterprise Development Week in Gastonia and Gaston County, including a list and information about important local minority figures and business pioneers.
- Telling our stories in Gaston, an oral history project Erwin Center Branch Library October 3, 1996. [videorecording] 126 Minutes. c1996. In this 1996 recording, Gastonians of the City of Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina recall the history of growing up in the Highland Community and the achievements of many of the graduates of Highland High School. Remembrances are in the form of a round table discussion. Master of ceremonies was Gastonia City Council member Walker E. Reid, now the City of Gastonia, N.C. Mayor (elected Mayor in 2017, re-elected in 2019) The event was held on Thursday, October 3, 1996 at 7:00 pm at the Erwin Center Branch Library (now the Ferguson Branch).
- Quick Focus On Gaston County Art & Culture: Myles Andrew Julius Rhynes: Gaston County Poet, Minister, and Librarian
- High schools of North Carolina: public and private, white and colored, urban and rural: a complete list.1925-1926; 1926-1927..
- High School Principals' Annual Reports, Gaston to Guilford County. This file includes high school principals' annual reports from schools in Guilford County, Gaston County, and Granville County. The reports include information about enrollment, names of graduates, grounds, equipment, educational material, schedules, curricula, staffing, and school organization. The reports affected school ratings and teacher salaries. Includes Highland High School (Gastonia), John Chavis High School (Cherryville), Lincoln Academy (Kings Mountain), Reid High School (Belmont), and Stewart Jr. High School (Bessemer City). 1924-1925; 1925-1926; 1926-1927; 1927-1928; 1929-1930; 1930-1931; 1931-1932; 1932-1933; 1933-1934; 1934-1935; 1935-1936; 1936-1937; 1937-1938; 1938-1939; 1939-1940; 1940-1941; 1941-1942; 1942-1943; 1943-1944; 1944-1945; 1945-1946; 1946-1947; 1947-1950.
- African American Education collection contains documents and photographs related to African American education in North Carolina before 1950 drawn from the collections of the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum and the Division of Negro Education of the Department of Public Instruction record group in the custody of the State Archives of North Carolina. (Includes records related to Julius Rosenwald Fund)
Go to: https://digital.ncdcr.gov/spotlights/african-american-education-in-north-carolina
- Biennial report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina for the scholastic years 1885-1886; 1920-22; 1922-23; 1923-24; and more provides statistics of the number of teachers, enrollment, and enrollment by grade, of North Carolina schools by county.
- Lincoln Academy, Kings Mountain, N.C. 1888 - 1955. Lincoln Academy, named after President Abraham Lincoln, was opened as a boarding school for African-American girls in the fall of 1888 by Emily Catherine Prudden. List of print and online resources.
Go to: https://gastonlibrary.libguides.com/lincoln-academy
- African American High Schools in North Carolina: a list of the names and locations of all of the public African American high schools compiled from the North Carolina Educational Directory around the time that the schools were desegregated.
Go to: https://tools.digitalnc.org/aahighschools/
- Colored Elementary & High School--Gastonia (1926). Photograph of Colored Elementary & High School in Gastonia, North Carolina, information in regards to cost of building, property value, and population is attached to the photograph.
- Rosenwald Schools in North Carolina Multiple Property Documentation Form includes complete list of Gaston County Rosenwald Schools.
- The State Historic Preservation Office website for North Carolina's Rosenwald Schools has a PDF download List of Surveyed Rosenwald Schools ("SURVEY FILE MATERIALS RECEIVED FROM VOLUNTEER SURVEYORS OF ROSENWALD SCHOOLS SINCE SEPTEMBER 2002") which includes Gaston County.
- Also available is PDF download of a List of Surveyed Rosenwald Schools ("Rosenwald Schools Documented in the Files of the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office") which includes Gaston County.
- Oral History Interview with George Miller, January 19, 1991. Interview M-0015. "George Miller, a former principal in Wilkes County, North Carolina, discusses the importance of knowing the day-to-day inner life of the public school system." Mr. George Miller of Gastonia, North Carolina, came back from A & T College to his hometown and started teaching. He stayed at Highland High School for 20 years, 1941-1961.
- FamilySearch.org has the following North Carolina collections:
- A Magical Romance For Any Season, Highland High School, Gastonia, North Carolina, 1887-1966 "A Brief History" with Pictures and Notations. Factual Information Pertaining to our Beloved Alma Mater, The Highland High School. September, 1992. George W. Miller, ed.
- For Yearbooks, visit Digital Gaston: Yearbooks. Includes Highland High School, The Ram.
- Go to: https://gastonlibrary.libguides.com/digital-gaston-county/yearbooks
- Grant Colored Asylum and the Colored Orphanage Asylum of North Carolina Enrollment Ledger. circa 1885-1919. "Today it is known as the Central Children's Home of North Carolina." [Includes children from Gaston County] DigitalNC
©Copyright 2021, Gaston County Public Library. All Rights Reserved.