The Lincoln Institute (KY) 1919 Graduating Class -Rare Original Sepia Photograph

Rare early artifact of the Historic Lincoln Institute. Original Sepia Photograph of the. 3" X 2" pocket photo in good condition with scrapbook residue on back. Before the end of the Civil War, both Black and White students worked and studied on the campus of Berea College.

After 39 years of integrated education, the Kentucky Legislature forced Berea to abandon this successful approach to education. State Representative Carl Day convinced his colleagues that integrated education should be outlawed. The Lincoln Institute was formed in response to the 1904 Day Law, which was upheld by the 1908 Supreme Court decision forbidding the education of Whites and Blacks in the same Kentucky school.

Lincoln Institute opened in 1912 in Shelby County, KY. It offered primarily vocational instruction. The first African American president was Whitney Young Sr. He led Lincoln Institute for over 40 years as it became a prominent boarding school for African American children. Was born on campus in 1921.