Eva Harris alumni ready to reunite
Published 9:28 pm Thursday, July 13, 2017
Organizers are preparing for the Eva H. Harris school reunion this weekend.
The Legacy Hall of Fame will be presented at 11 a.m. today at the Lincoln Civic Center, which will be the site of the festivities.
Registration for the reunion will be 1 to 4 p.m.
According to a blog published by Class of 1964 graduate Leon Whitfield of Terry, Eva H. Harris School had a relatively short history.
“The groundbreaking ceremony was in September 1958 for the new Eva Harris Negro School for all Negro high school students and a portion of the Negro elementary students in the Lincoln County Schools District,” he wrote.
The estimated cost of the new facility was $279,690 and it was located on a site near two other black schools, Mullins Elementary and Alexander High School, he said.
The doors opened to students in September of 1960 and the first class graduated the next year.
The principal was Eva H. Harris.
“The class of 1968 will probably be remembered as the class that almost wasn’t,” he wrote. “They refused to line up to march for graduation until after their parents had a meeting in the library to clear up a mix-up on monies that they had worked hard all year long to earn.”
In January of 1970, the students were assigned to various schools within the Lincoln County School District because of school integration. In May of 1970, 75 seniors assigned to Friendship, Bogue Chitto and Progress returned to Eva H. Harris for graduation ceremonies. The 1970 class was the last class to graduate from Eva H. Harris.
From 1971 to 1994, Eva H. Harris went through a variety of name changes. It served as a middle school and a pre-vocational technical center, he said.
Other events planned today are a talent show, fish fry and dance beginning at 7 p.m. All classes are asked to participate in the talent show, Whitfield said.
Classes are encouraged to participate in a parade Saturday. Lineup is at the Brookhaven Post Office on West Cherokee at 8:30 a.m. The parade will start at 10 a.m. and will travel to Alexander Jr. High School, where refreshments will be served, he said.
The Class of 1966 will be honored on their 50th anniversary that was celebrated in 2016. The Class of 1967, who will celebrate their golden anniversary this year, will also be honored.
Former teachers Celess Barnes McEwen and Augustine Tillman Buie will lead the parade. McEwen will serve as the senior grand marshal while Buie will be honorary grand marshal.
A banquet is planned at the Lincoln Civic Center at 7 p.m. A dance will follow.
Sunday morning services will be held at the civic center. Sunday school will be 8:30-9:30 a.m.with worship at 9:35 a.m.
Dinner will be served at 1 p.m. followed by a group meeting, fashion show and farewell.