Dr. James Bond and the Lincoln Institute

The Lincoln Institute was founded in 1909 for African American students who could no longer attend Berea College. The Day Law, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1904, mandated the segregation of Kentucky higher education institutions. The law was aimed at Kentucky’s  only interracial College at Berea.

Berea graduates, Dr. James Bond and Kirke Smith, joined in the campaign to find funds to build a new school. Andrew Carnegie gave a gift of $200,000, and donations were solicited from and received from private individuals. The Lincoln Institute was to be modeled after Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute, and the school was initially referred to as the Tuskegee of Kentucky. Unfortunately, this idea was soon dropped because funding would never be sufficient for the Lincoln Institute to become a college.

Just finding a site for the school had been a major feat. School founders were unable to secure land in Lexington or Louisville. Property was finally acquired in Anchorage, in Jefferson County, but the white residents in the community opposed the idea, and a $2000 gift was given to the School to persuade the search committee to seek another location. Finally, a farm in Simpsonville was purchased, and again whites opposed the idea of an African American school in their community. Shelby county citizens quickly passed the Holland Bill, which allowed voters to approve or deny the establishment of industrial schools in the entire county. The Lincoln Institute administrators fought the bill and it was declared unconstitutional in June 1910.

To appease the community, the school administrators decided that only Lincoln Institute students who lived at the school would be allowed to enroll. This would keep large numbers of African American families from moving into the Shelbyville area. Also, Shelbyville’s mayor, who owned a construction company, was given a contract to assist in the building of the school. The first building, Berea Hall, was constructed in 1911. The Lincoln Institute opened in October 1912.

The day the school opened, a group bearing arms barred the entrance to the new Lincoln Institute. The group was disbanded by the persuasions of Dr. Bond without violence. Dr. Bond also provided escort for the arriving students past the demonstrating crowd of white protestors. The opening of the Lincoln Institute proceeded as planned with Rev. Eugene Thomas, pastor of the Berea Union Church, being it’s first president. Dr. James Bond became the school financial agent.

To read more about Dr. Bond, his life from slavery to his part in the civil rights movement and his contributions to Camp Zachary Taylor and the YMCA,  visit our “History” page and click on the “Notable Veterans” link.

Ken Maguire