Lincoln School Library Catalog
The Lincoln School Library was an extension of the city's public library until 1955 when it became Eastwood Junior High. In 1970 the Cherokee Jr. High library consisted of books from the decommissioned Eastwood Jr. High library and its card catalog. The wooden card catalog was later purchased from the school during a furniture liquidation sale by Joyce Boyt, who served as the librarian at Cherokee Junior High from 1970 to 1996. The catalog was donated to the Springfield-Greene County Library by Ms. Boyt.
Eastwood Jr. High became Vocational Technical School in 1962. (The Cherokee Junior High building was built in 1960, and was called the South Kickapoo School at the time.)
The library loaned the card catalog cabinet to the History Museum on the Square for the Community Cornerstones: Springfield's Black Educators exhibit that will run February 1-May 7, 2023.
The library also has copies of the Eastwood Eagle from 1959 and 1960, a publication produced at the junior high school. The Eagle was a cross between a newsletter and a school newspaper. It included teacher and student biographies, reported students events, profiled student groups and student poetry, among other things. The following is an example of a teacher biography.
"Meet your teacher.
"This charming black haired, brown eyed teacher is Mrs. Daisy Adams. Mrs. Adams taught six years in Arkansas and from 1943 to 1954 she was librarian for the Lincoln School. She has taught English and taken charge of the small library at Eastwood for five years. Mrs. Adams received her B.S. in Education at A.M.&N. College in Pine Bluff, Arkansas; her B.S. in Library Science at the University of Illinois and her Master's Degree at New York University. She is the Sunday School Superintendent of the Metropolitan Baptist Church, and also teaches a group of 10 to 13 year olds."
Eastwood Eagle, March 31, 1960
There was no information accompanying this group photograph from the Eastwood Eagle, April 30, 1959, except the name of the club and it's participants. It does give a small peek at the old Lincoln School Library.
"Library Club leaders, seated left to right: Connie Stogsdill, Ruth Skidmore, President Harlan Cavin, Sharon Cobb, Faculty Sponsor Mrs. Daisy Adams. Standing left to right: Roberta Trantham, Verla Allen, Annette Hancock, Cheryl Parsons, Jack Fittro, Bonnie Sue Thompson, Jody Ownbey, and Carolyn Buchanan."
For more information about the Community Cornerstones display, visit the History Museum on the Square. For more information about Lincoln School visit the library's online Lincoln School Collection. Mrs. Adams also appears in school photographs published in Black Families of the Ozarks.
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