Lynch (Ky.) Colored High School-West Main Alumni Association, Inc. Collection, 1919-2010

Collection Number: 05590

Collection Title: Lynch (Ky.) Colored High School-West Main Alumni Association, Inc. Collection, 1919-2010

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size	4.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 350 items)
Abstract	The Lynch Colored High School-West Main Alumni Association incorporated as a non profit organization in the state of Kentucky in 1994. The alumni association draws its membership from individuals who attended Lynch Colored High School, later West Main High School, from its founding until 1963 when the schools in Harlan County, Ky., integrated. Lynch Colored School in Harlan County, Ky., served African American children, kindergarten through twelfth grade, who lived in the neighboring coal camps and company towns of Lynch, Ky., and Benham, Ky. United States Coal and Coke Company, a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation, established a segregated school system in 1923 to accommodate the children of the company's Black coal miners, many of whom had migrated from Alabama and Georgia. The collection of the Lynch (Ky.) Colored High School-West Main Alumni Association, Inc. was acquired as a part of the Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project (EKAAMP), a public humanities and archival collecting initiative directed by Karida Brown, an African American sociologist, in partnership with the Southern Historical Collection (SHC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an historically white institution. In 2013, the SHC joined Brown in her efforts to document a multi-generational African American community with familial ties to coal mining towns in Harlan County, Ky. The community which Brown studies has its origins in the coalfields of the Appalachian South and specifically the surrounding area of Lynch, Ky. The Alumni Association collection contains pictures, yearbooks, and papers related to Lynch Colored School, West Main High School, the communities of Lynch and Benham in Harlan County, Ky., and the alumni association. The pictures are of the faculty, staff, students, classrooms, athletics, and school activities at Lynch Colored School (including the elementary and middle schools) and West Main High School. Other pictures are of the coal camp town of Lynch, Ky., and surrounding communities, community members, and alumni association events. The yearbooks are for Lynch Colored High School, Lynch West Main High School, and Lynch Colored School. Papers are primarily printed items, including newspaper and magazine clippings, booklets with remembrances and local history for alumni, an alumni event program, a copy of receipts and expenditures for 1926, a copy of a 1929 employment application for the United States Coal and Coke Company, a 1959 report card, 1961 Lynch High School diploma, and certificates. Of interest are copies of school census data for 1934 and 1928-1963. Records of the Alumni Association's operations include articles of incorporation, annual reports, and membership lists and directories, and a small amount of correspondence.
Creator	Lynch Colored High School-West Main Alumni Association (Lynch, Ky.)
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English

Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access: No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use: No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice: Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], in the Lynch (Ky.) Colored High School-West Main Alumni Association, Inc. Collection #5590, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information: Images and papers collected by Elmore Jones (Acc. 102031) and book compiled by Sam Howard (Acc. 102109) were received through Karida Brown in April 2014. Further additions received from Karida Brown in March 2015 (Acc. 102182) and Sam Howard in March 2015 (Acc. 102183).; Acquired for the Southern Historical Collection as a part of the Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project (EKAAMP) directed by Karida Brown.

Sensitive Materials Statement: Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Laura Hart, May 2015; Nancy Kaiser, Sonoe Nakasone, and Chaitra Powell, July 2021

Encoded by: Laura Hart, May 2015

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, July 2021

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.

Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

Expand/collapse Related Collections

Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project Collection (05585)
Eastern Kentucky Social Club Collection (05606)
Lynch Colored School (Lynch, Ky.) and Lynch High School (Lynch, Ky.) yearbooks are available on the Internet Archive for 1950, 1951, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1973.

Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Lynch Colored School

Lynch Colored School in Harlan County, Ky., served African American children, kindergarten through twelfth grade, who lived in the neighboring coal camps and company towns of Lynch, Ky., and Benham, Ky. United States Coal and Coke Company, a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation established a segregated school system in 1923 to accommodate the children of the company's Black coal miners, many of whom had migrated from Alabama and Georgia. The surrounding communities also had schools for the white coalminers' children. The company hired the school system's faculty and staff all of whom were African American. Many of the teachers had attended and received degrees from the historically Black college Kentucky State College, later Kentucky State University.

The Lynch Colored Public High School, later Lynch West Main High School, supported sports teams including varsity baseball, basketball, football, and track and field. These teams competed in the Upper Cumberland Valley Athletic Association and Eastern Kentucky Conference for Colored Schools and rivals included the Harlan Rosenwald School. The high school also had student government, a marching band, chorus, cheerleader squads, a variety of clubs, and homecoming festivities. The curriculum was traditional and included courses in speech, citizenship, home economics, typing, and physical education. The first high school graduates in the system received diplomas in 1928.

In 1963, nearly ten years after the United States Supreme Court ruling against separate but equal facilities Brown v. Board of Education, the schools in Harlan County, Ky., integrated.

Lynch (Ky.) Colored High School-West Main Alumni Association, Inc.

The Lynch Colored High School-West Main Alumni Association incorporated as a non profit organization in the state of Kentucky in 1994. The alumni association draws its membership from individuals who attended Lynch Colored High School, later West Main High School, from its founding until 1963 when the schools in Harlan County, Ky., integrated.

Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project

The Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project (EKAAMP) is a public humanities initiative directed by Karida Brown, an African American sociologist, in partnership with the Southern Historical Collection (SHC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an historically white institution. In 2013, the SHC joined Brown in her efforts to document a multi-generational African American community with familial ties to coal mining towns in Harlan County, Ky. Brown has conducted oral history interviews with community members and helped the SHC collect manuscript materials from the community and its social organizations.

The community which Brown studies has its origins in the coalfields of the Appalachian South and specifically the surrounding area of Lynch, Ky. Appalachia was a destination for thousands of African Americans, who left the rural deep South in the early twentieth century during the Great Migration. A company town, Lynch was established in 1917 by U.S. Coal and Coke Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel. The company supplied housing, health care, social services, commissary, churches, schools, and recreation for coal miners and their families. At its peak in the mid twentieth century Lynch's population reached 10,000 and included African Americans and whites with eastern European and British heritage. Although the mines were not strictly segregated, most areas of life, including schools, churches, commissary, and recreation, had separate facilities for Black and white people until the mid 1960s. Neighboring Benham, Ky. was also a coal mining camp and company town operated by Wisconsin Steel Company, a subsidiary of International Harvesters Company. The Benham mines closed in the 1970s.

U.S. Steel withdrew its operations in the mid 1960s, and the population of Lynch and the surrounding areas dwindled as families, who had spent only one or two generations in Appalachia, began to move across the country, settling in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, California, Missouri, and other states. Despite the long distances now separating this close knit community, individuals and families from the Harlan County coal towns Lynch, Benham, and Cumberland retained close ties with each other and nurtured what sociologist Karida Brown has called a "post-migration diasporic identity."

Karida Brown

Karida Brown (1982-), an African American sociologist, was born in Uniondale, N.Y., to Arnita Davis Brown and Richard Brown. Karida Brown received a bachelor's degree in administration from Temple University in 2004, a master's degree in public administration in 2009 from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master's degree in sociology from Brown University in 2013. As of January 2016, she is a PhD candidate in Brown University's sociology department, and her PhD dissertation titled Before They Were Diamonds: The Intergenerational Migration of Kentucky's Coal Camp Blacks is in progress.

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection contains pictures, yearbooks, and papers related to Lynch Colored School, West Main High School, the communities of Lynch and Benham in Harlan County, Ky., and the alumni association.

Mostly facsimiles and photocopies of black and white photographs, the pictures are of the faculty, staff, students, classrooms, and school activities at Lynch Colored School (including the elementary and middle schools) and West Main High School. Other pictures are of the coal camp town of Lynch, Ky., and surrounding communities, community members, and alumni association events. The pictures are arranged into subject categories depicted in the images. Categories are Athletics, Classes and Classrooms, Faculty and Staff, Student Activities, Community, Alumni Association, and Other Places.

The yearbooks are for Lynch Colored High School, Lynch West Main High School, and Lynch Colored School.

Papers are primarily printed items, including newspaper and magazine clippings, booklets with remembrances and local history for alumni, an alumni event program, a copy of receipts and expenditures for 1926, a copy of a 1929 employment application for the United States Coal and Coke Company, a 1959 report card, 1961 Lynch High School diploma, and certificates. Of interest are copies of school census data for 1934 and 1928-1963.

Records of the Alumni Association's operations are sparse, but include articles of incorporation, annual reports, and membership lists and directories, and a small amount of correspondence.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

1. Pictures, 1919-2005.
2. Papers, 1934-2010.
2A. Papers, 1926-1963 (Addition of March 2015)
3A. Yearbooks, 1949-1976 (Addition of March 2015).

Expand/collapse Series 1. Pictures, 1919-2005.

About 300 items.

Arrangement: topical.

The pictures are arranged into subject categories depicted in the images. Categories are Athletics, Classes and Classrooms, Faculty and Staff, Student Activities, Community, Alumni Association, and Other Places.

Sports represented in the athletics pictures include baseball, basketball, football, and cheerleading. Most athletics pictures are the posed team photographs. Others show individual athletes and action during games.

Most school pictures are posed photographs for a grade or a graduating class and include the teachers. Others show individually posed students, faculty, and staff. Classroom scenes show instructors and students in vocational courses including sewing, cooking, and typing. Student activity pictures show school dances and prom, homecoming celebrations and parade, marching band, fashion show, pageant, and cotillion.

Community pictures show community members both adults and children in informal settings and buildings in the town of Lynch, Ky., including the schools and the United Supply Company Store, where the coalmining families shopped for clothing, shoes, furniture and household goods, and groceries.

Most alumni association pictures are of a 2005 event honoring a beloved teacher from the Lynch Colored School, Vivian Breedlove Knight.

Notable in the pictures categorized as other places is a panoramic view of delgates to the 43rd Consecutive Constitutional Convention of the United Mine Workers of America who met in Cincinnatti, Ohio in October 1960. The convention was integrated and included women delegates.

Athletics

Image Folder PF-05590/1	Baseball team, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/2	Baseball, the Greys, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/3	Baseball player, the Greys, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/4	Baseball player (outfield), undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/5	Basketball team, 1938-1939 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/6	Basketball team, 1939-1940 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/7	Basketball team with cheerleaders, 1953-1954 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/8	Basketball team, 1959 "Lynch West Main, Benham Win in Tourney" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/9	Basketball team, the Hornets, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/10	Basketball, "Lynch Bulldog Basketball Team" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/11	Basketball team, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/12	Basketball team, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/13	Basketball team, undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/1	Basketball team, undated 11x14 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/14	Basketball game with integrated crowd, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/15	Basketball game with integrated crowd, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/16	Cheerleaders , 1949-1950 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/17	Cheerleaders , 1957-1958 5x7 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/18	Cheerleaders , 1959-1960, "Precious Memories How They Linger!" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/19	Cheerleaders, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/20	Cheerleaders, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/21	Cheerleaders, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/22	Cheerleaders "Yea Team! Say Team! Fight Fight Fight", undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/23	Cheerleaders, elementary school, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/24	Football team, 1924, "The Lynch High School Eleven of 1924" facsimile
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/2	Football team, "The Lynch County Eleven of 1924" facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/25	Football team, 1946-1947 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/26	Football team, 1947-1948 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/27	Football team, 1949-1950 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/28	Football team, 1949-1950, "Lynch Wins State Championship" facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/29	Football team, 1956-1957 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/30	Football team and cheerleaders, 1956-1957 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/31	Football team, 1957-1958, "Precious Memories How They Linger!" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/32	Football team, 1958-1959 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/33	Football team, 1959-1960 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/34	Football team, 1959-1960, "Precious Memories How They Linger!" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/35	Football team and cheerleaders, 1959-1960 photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/36	Football team, 1960-1961 5x7 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/37	Football team and cheerleaders, 1960-1961 photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/38	Football team, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/39	Football team (white players), undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/40	Football team page with players' portraits, "Lads who wear the Big 'K'," undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/41	Football players, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/42	Football players, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/43	Football player standing with young girl, 1970s 8x10 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/44	High Jump team, 1935 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/45	"West Main High School The Legendary Home of Lynch Pirates" photographic collage photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/262	Basketball, cheerleaders, football copy negative
Image Folder PF-05590/263	Team pictures copy negative

Classes and Classrooms

Image Folder PF-05590/46	Class page "School Days" with student and faculty portraits, 1948-1949 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/47	Class page "School Days" with student and faculty portraits, 1948-1949 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/48	Class page "School Days" with student and faculty portraits, 1948-1949 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/49	Class page "School Days" with student and faculty portraits, 1948-1949 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/50	Class page "School Days" with student and faculty portraits, 1948-1949 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/51	Class page, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/52	Elementary school, first through fourth grades, 1920 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/53	Elementary school class picture, "School Days," 1921 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/54	Elementary school class picture, fourth grade, Alma George Davis, 1936 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/55	Elementary school class picture, second grade, M.H. Harris, 1949 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/56	Elementary school class picture, first grade, R.C. Sweatt, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/57	Elementary school class picture, fifth grade, M.L. Jackson, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/58	Elementary school class picture, sixth grade, S.J. Harris, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/59	Class pictures: Elementary school, honor roll students (first through eighth grades) and physical education, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/60	Class pictures: Elementary school, honor roll students (first through eighth grades) and informal picture at "Benham's Prom," undated photocopy
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/3	Class pictures: Elementary school, honor roll students (first through eighth grades), undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/61	Class pictures: Elementary school, physical education, M.G. Knight, undated, "Precious Memories How They Linger!" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/62	Class pictures: Elementary school, physical education, M.G. Knight, undated,"Precious Memories How They Linger!" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/63	Elementary school class picture, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/64	Elementary school class picture, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/65	Elementary school class picture, undated 5x7 black-and-white print photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/66	Elementary school class picture, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/67	Elementary school class picture, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/68	Elementary school class picture, undated 5x7 black-and-white print 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/69	Elementary school class picture, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/70	Elementary school class picture, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/71	Elementary school class picture, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/72	Elementary school class picture, undated 5x7 black-and-white print
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/4	Elementary school class picture, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/73	All grades, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/74	All grades, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/264	Class pictures, class pages, and classrooms copy negative
Image Folder PF-05590/75	Graduates, [1940s] 4x6 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/76	Graduates, 1948 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/77	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/78	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/79	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/80	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/81	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/82	Graduates, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/83	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/84	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/85	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/86	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/87	Graduates, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/88	Graduates, undated facsimile
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/5	Graduates, undated 11x14 black-and-white print
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/6	Graduates, undated 11x14 black-and-white print This picture is damaged with some loss of content.
Image Folder PF-05590/265	Class pictures: Graduates, undated copy negative
Image Folder PF-05590/266	Graduates, undated copy negative
Image Folder PF-05590/89	High School, undated 5x7 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/90	High School, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/91	Speech education, Vivian L. Breedlove photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/92	Speech education 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/93	Field trip, Mammoth Cave, 1960 photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/94	Marching band, undated 5x7 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/95	Marching band, undated 5x7 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/96	Classroom, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/97	Classroom, undated 5x7 black-and-white print photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/98	Classroom, undated photocopy
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/7	Classroom, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/99	Classroom: Typing, undated 5x7 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/100	Classroom: Sewing, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/101	Classroom: Sewing, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/102	Classroom: Cooking, undated 8x10 black-and-white print facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/103	Classroom: Library, study hall, undated 8x10 black-and-white print photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/104	Classroom: Elementary school, undated 5x7 black-and-white print

Faculty and Staff

Image Folder PF-05590/105	Faculty and staff group picture, 1929 facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/106	Alumni event, "To our administrators and faculty of West Main High School who gave the best of themselves" facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/107	Faculty and staff group picture, undated 5x7 black-and-white print facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/108	Faculty and staff group picture, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/109	Informal picture of faculty and staff at an event, undated 8x10 black-and-white print facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/110	Photographic collage"Lynch Colored High/West Main High School 1923-1963" Henrietta Virginia Sweatt, Charles M. Cross, William H. Craig, Mary Jackson Davis, Peter Winston Williams, and Alma George Dallas
Image Folder PF-05590/111	Faculty and Staff, "Precious Memories How They Linger" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/112	Principal Walter L. Shobe, "To-Morrow's Children" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/113	Principal Walter L. Shobe facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/114	Caroline L. Blanton facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/115	H. L. Cash, Superintendent, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/116	Geneva Tapp Coleman 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/117	John V. Coleman facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/118	John V. Coleman, "Precious Memories How They Linger!" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/119	Charles M. Cross, janitor facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/120	Maxine B. Gregory 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/121	Vivian Breedlove Knight 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/122	Vivian Breedlove Knight facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/123	Vergie R. Caywood Mason 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/124	A.R. Miller 8x10 black-and-white print facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/125	Anna L. Shobe facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/126	Walter L. Shobe, "Precious Memories How They Linger!" photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/127	Walter L. Shobe 8x10 black-and-white print 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/128	Walter L. Shobe facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/129	Henrietta V. Sweatt 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/130	Coach Eugene Taylor facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/131	Unidentified faculty and staff 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/132	Unidentified faculty and staff 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/133	Unidentified faculty and staff 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/134	Unidentified faculty and staff 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/135	Unidentified faculty and staff, 1941 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/136	Unidentified faculty and staff 2.5x3.5 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/137	Faculty and Staff: Portrait, unidentified 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/138	Unidentified faculty and staff facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/267	Faculty and staff, undated copy negative

Student Activities

Image Folder PF-05590/139	Homecoming queen, Inez Watson, 1946 8x10 black-and-white print facsimile photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/140	Indoor event [fashion show?], 1960 3x3 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/141	Indoor event [fashion show?], 1960 3x3 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/142	[Academic tournament], integrated student group, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/143	Band, brass and woodwind, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/144	Drum major, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/145	Drum major, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/146	Graduation day, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/147	Graduation day, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/148	Homecoming queen, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/149	Marching band, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/150	Prom "The last [Junior and Senior] Prom [at] West Main High, William + Alma" 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/151	School Dance with theme, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/152	School Dance, portrait, undated 2.5x3.5 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/153	School Dance, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/154	Outdoor event, undated photocopy
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/8	Outdoor event, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/155	Elementary School Dance [cotillion?] , undated 5x7 black-and-white print photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/156	Elementary School Dance [cotillion?], undated 5x7 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/157	Elementary school children in costume [pageant?], undated 8x10 black-and-white print This picture is damaged with some loss of content.
Image Folder PF-05590/268	Student Activities, undated copy negative

Community: People in Posed Pictures

Image Folder PF-05590/158	Young woman[Phenie Pearl Almon?], 1940s 3.5x4.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/159	Girl, 1940s 2.5x3.5 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/160	Young woman, 1980s 3.5x4.5 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/161	Woman, 1990s 2.5x3.5 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/162	Boy [Pete George?], undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/163	Young man, Jack [?], undated and young woman, undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/164	Young man in khaki uniform, undated 5x7 print hand colored
Image Folder PF-05590/165	Young man, undated 1.5x2 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/166	Young man, undated 3x5 black-and-white print
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/9	Young man, undated
Image Folder PF-05590/167	Man, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/168	Man, undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/169	Man, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/170	Elementary school girl, undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/171	Young woman, undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/172	Woman, Lucille Riddle, undated 3x5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/173	Woman [Fran Jones?], undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/174	Woman, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/175	Woman, undated 3x5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/176	Elderly woman, undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/177	Two babies, undated 4x5.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/178	Four children, undated 3x5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/179	Family Christmas card, "Bettye, Ben, Crystal," undated 3.5x4.5 color print
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/10	Two women and one man, undated 11x14 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/180	Thirteen men in business attire. J.A. Matthews, YMCA president. undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/181	Staff [of a restaurant?] facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/182	Music group, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/11	Large group of women with one man outside a church, undated facsimile

Community: People in Informal Pictures

Image Folder PF-05590/183	Lilli M. Bradley, 1947 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/184	Man, 1940s 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/185	Woman, 1940s 3.5x4.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/186	Two women and a baby, 1966 3x3 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/187	Young man in bar, 1968 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/188	Woman, 1969 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/189	Two boys, 1969 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/190	Young man, 1970s 3.5x4.5 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/191	Three young men, 1970s 2x2 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/192	Young woman, 1970s 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/193	Man and woman, 1970s 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/194	Man and woman, 1970s 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/195	Young man and woman, 1970s 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/196	Man, 1970s 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/197	Basketball player, 1970s photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/198	"Tanya, Taneisha, Jamal," 1980 3x5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/199	Three women, 1988 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/200	Three women, 1988 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/201	Small boy, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/202	Man, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/203	Woman in kitchen, undated 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/204	Woman [in medical office?] 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/205	Woman, undated 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/206	Woman, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/207	School children and adult, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/208	Four children, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/209	Large group of children, undated 8x10 black-and-white print facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/210	Four young men, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/211	Two men [at left Muhammed Ali], undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/212	Lillie Bell Jackson with sons, undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/213	Woman and baby, undated 3.5x4.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/214	Woman, man, and baby, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/215	Woman, man, and toddler, undated 3x5 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/216	Two women, undated 2.5x3.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/217	Two women at event, undated 3.5x4.5 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/218	Three women at a religious conference, undated 3x3 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/219	Two women and a man, undated 3x3 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/220	Woman and two men, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/269	Three women and one man copy negative
Image Folder PF-05590/221	Congregation and choir in church, undated 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/222	Coalminers, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/223	Eastern Kentucky Social Club, Lynch Chapter, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/224	Eastern Kentucky Social Club, "Home Sweet Black Mountain Home," 1997 photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/270	Community, undated copy negative
Image Folder PF-05590/271	Community, undated 35mm roll film negative
Image Folder PF-05590/225	Open casket 3x3 color print

Community: Places

Image Folder PF-05590/226	Auditorium interior, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/227	Building exterior, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/228	Coal cars on railroad tracks, undated post card
Image Folder PF-05590/229	United Supply Company Store, exterior, 1920 facsimile "The large 3 story structure made of native sandstone contained a bakery, ice plant, meat shop, clothing and shoe department, furniture store, carpet division, grocery department, and millinery shop. A truck could be driven into the basement to be loaded."
Image Folder PF-05590/230	Building, exterior, 1950s 8x10 black-and-white print photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/231	Building, interior, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/232	Building, interior, undated 8x10 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/233	Construction site, 1919 photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/234	Construction site, undated 4x6 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/235	Entrance to mine 31 "Safety the first consideration," undated
Image Folder PF-05590/236	Grain mill, exterior, undated 5x7 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/237	House exterior, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/238	Houses and outbuildings, undated 3x3 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/239	Infirmary with patients and medical personnel, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/240	Lynch Methodist Church Colored, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/241	Mined coal photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/242	School building exterior with students on steps, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/272	School building exterior with students on steps, undated copy negative
Image Folder PF-05590/243	School building exterior, undated photocopy "Lynch Colored was completed 1921. Two frame buildings in camps one and five which housed the grade school since 1918. Professor William H. Craig was principal of Lynch Colored Public High School 1926-1929. In 1928 the first four graduates received their diplomas under Prof. Craig."
Image Folder PF-05590/244	School building exterior, undated
Image Folder PF-05590/245	School building exterior, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/246	School building exterior, undated facsimile
Image Folder PF-05590/247	Street scene, Parade float, undated 5x7 black-and-white print
Image Folder PF-05590/248	Street scene, Parade, undated photocopy
Image Folder PF-05590/249	Street scene, Parade, undated photocopy

Alumni Association

Image Folder PF-05590/250	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/251	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/252	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/253	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/254	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/255	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/256	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/257	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/258	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/259	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/260	Vivian Breedlove Knight birthday celebration, 2005 4x6 color print
Image Folder PF-05590/261	Class of 1963 reunion, undated 5x8 color print
Oversize Image OP-P-05590/12	Class of 1963 reunion, undated facsimile

Other Places

Image Folder PF-05590/273	"International Congress of Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ, July 20-Sept 9 1919. E. D. Smith, Apostle. Pattons Studio Indianapolis" copy negative
Image Folder PF-05590/274	"International Congress of Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ, July 20-Sept 9 1919. E. D. Smith, Apostle. Pattons Studio Indianapolis" copy negative
Image Folder PF-05590/275	"Holleys Triumph Resident [House]," undated copy negative
Extra Oversize Image XOP-P-05590/1	United Mine Workers of America: Panoramic view of delegates to the 43rd Consecutive Constitutional Convention, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 1960 oversize black-and-white print

Expand/collapse Series 2. Papers, 1934-2010.

About 25 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Papers are primarily printed items, including newspaper and magazine clippings, booklets with remembrances and local history for alumni, an alumni event program, a 1961 Lynch High School diploma, and certificates. Of interest is a copy of an enumerating sheet of Lynch, Ky., school census data for 1934. Census information includes the name, age, parents, race, and disabilities of children ages six to eighteen living in the school district in Harlan County, Ky.

Records of the Alumni Association's operations are sparse, but include articles of incorporation, a small amount of correspondence, annual reports, and membership lists and directories.

Folder 1	Enumerating sheet for school census data, Lynch (Ky.) Independent School District, 1934 Census information includes the name, age, parents, race, and disabilities of children ages six to eighteen living in the school district in Harlan County, Ky. Race is defined as either "w" for white or "c" for colored.
Folder 2	Newspaper clippings (copies) about Lynch, Ky., from Kentucky papers. 1936, 1954, and 1957 Articles about a newly built theater, high school basketball, and retirements of two teachers.
Folder 3	Diploma for Lynch High School West Main, Oliver Elmore Jones, 1961
Folder 4	Clipping (copy), "And of course, we will always remember and be grateful to those who taught us" 1981 Facts about Lynch, Ky., and images of the faculty and staff of Lynch Colored Public School.
Folder 5	Booklet, "'Wanting to be remembered' Lynch Colored Public/West Main High School (1923-1963)," 1988 Includes images of the school, students, faculty, and athletic teams; historical background about the town, town founder Thomas Lynch, the school, and faculty; census information for the school district; athletic eligibility lists; lyrics for the alma mater and fight song; and copies of Kentucky newspaper articles.
Folder 6	Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of Lynch Colored High School West Main Alumni Association, Inc., 1994
Folder 7	Correspondence from 1994, 1995, 1997 Draft of letter concerning fund raising and building use, letter received concerning a site for a proposed museum, and a letter from Association's lawyer concerning exclusive use of the corporate name.
Folder 8	Booklet, "Remembering Home, School & Friends West Main High School 1948-1960," 2000 Includes images of the school and its students and faculty, historical background, class rosters, copies of Kentucky newspaper articles, and remembrances of the school and the town.
Folder 9	Certificate of existence and reinstatement from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Lynch Colored High School West Main Alumni Association, Inc., 2001
Folder 10	Mock-ups and drafts for booklet, 2001
Folder 11	Annual report to Commonwealth of Kentucky, Lynch Colored High School West Main Alumni Association, Inc., 2002
Folder 12	Invitation to birthday celebration for Vivian Breedlove Knight " Our Oldest Living Legend," 2005
Folder 13	Curriculum vitae for Vivian L. Breedlove Knight, 2005 Knight taught at Lynch Colored Public Grammar/High School from 1937 through 1954.
Folder 14	Alumni Association event notices, 2005 Draft announcement for an alumni event and flier for a Dinner & Yard Sale.
Folder 15	Form for the annual report to Commonwealth of Kentucky, 2006
Folder 16	Program for the Pirate Reunion Awards and Recognition Banquet, 2010
Folder 17	Certificate of attendance for the Pirate Reunion, 2010
Folder 18	Narrative tribute to Priscilla L. Butts, undated Butts graduated from West Main High School
Folder 19	Mock-up or template with Lynch Colored High School seal, undated
Folder 20	Proof sheets, "Lynch Colored Public Independent High School 1921-1963" Historical background about the school buildings and administrators
Folder 21	Alumni Association membership form, undated
Folder 22	Check, Alumni Association's BB&T account, undated
Folder 23	Draft letter to recruit Alumni Association board members, undated
Folder 24	Alumni association membership lists with directory information, undated
Oversize Paper OP-05590/1	"Gallery of Great Black Kentuckians, " Benjamin F. Shobe, autographed and undated

Expand/collapse Series 2A. Papers, 1926-1963 (Addition of March 2015)

8 items.

Acquisitions Information: Accession 102183

Papers collected by Sam Howard Jr., relating to the history of the town of Lynch, Ky., especially the history of Lynch Colored High School. Papers include a 1959 report card of Elaine Lacey from West Main Street High School (also known as the Lynch Colored High School) in Lynch, Ky.; a newspaper clipping about Thomas Lynch (1854-1914), the white president of the United States Coal and Coke Company for whom the town of Lynch is named; a copy of a 1929 employment application for the United States Coal and Coke Company; a copy of "Receipts and Expenditures, Lynch Common Graded School District--(Colored), Year Ending June 30th, 1926"; a copy of a group photograph of African American coaches (John V. Coleman, Frank O. Moxley, W.L. Kean, James B. Brown, W.M. Summers, W.M. Falls, Mims, Mathis) from the Kentucky High School Athletic League (KHSAL); a copy of a group photograph of AFrican American teachers and administrators (Mabel H. Smith, E. Hortense Bothic, Maxine B. Gregory, Henrietta V. Sweatt, Anna L. Shobe, Vivian B. Knight, Geneva T. Coleman, Addie R. Miller, Edward W. Oates, Z.M. Kemp, Mary Ballenger, Mary Jackson, Alma G.L. Dallas, W.L. Shobe) of the Lynch Colored High School; one small binder of photocopied papers titled, "Colored Children: Enumerating Sheet for Recording School Census Data, Lynch Independent District in Harlan County, 1934"; and one small binder of photocopied papers titled, "Lynch Colored Public/West Main High School: Seniors and Personal Data, 1928-1963."

Folder 25

Papers collected by Sam Howard Jr., 1926-1963

For more biographical information about Sam Howard Jr., see interview #42 in 5585. Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project Collection.

Expand/collapse Series 3A. Yearbooks, 1949-1976 (Addition of March 2015).

12 items.

Acquisitions Information: Accession 102182

Yearbooks for Lynch Colored High School, Lynch West Main High School, and Lynch Colored School document Appalachian education, the history of company towns and African Americans in Appalachia. Yearbooks contain photos and names of faculty and students as well as advertisements for local and national companies. Some yearbooks have handwritten inscriptions.

Lynch Colored School (Lynch, Ky.) and Lynch High School (Lynch, Ky.) yearbooks are available on the Internet Archive for 1950, 1951, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1973.

Box 2

Expand/collapse Items Separated

Pictures (PF-5590/1-275)
Oversize Pictures (OP-P-5590/1-12)
Extra Oversize Picture (XOP-P-5590/1)
Oversize Paper (OP-5590/1)

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Collection Number: 05590 Collection Title: Lynch (Ky.) Colored High School-West Main Alumni Association, Inc. Collection, 1919-2010