[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 157 (Friday, December 7, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1887-E1888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE LEMON STREET HERITAGE GROUP AND THE LEMON STREET 
                                 SCHOOL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAVID SCOTT

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, December 7, 2012

  Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
the outstanding efforts of the Lemon Street Heritage Group--and to 
reflect on just how far we have come since those dark days of 
segregation. The Lemon Street Heritage Group has been working 
tirelessly to increase awareness of the Lemon Street School, which was 
built as the school for black children in Marietta, GA. When the City 
of Marietta established an independent school district in 1892, the 
idea that white children and black children could have equal access to 
education in separate schools was widely prevalent, as it was in many 
places throughout the country.
  While the city built a brick school house for the white students, the 
Lemon Street School was a wooden structure, and offered only seven 
years of education until the 1920s. Eventually, a distinct Lemon Street 
High School was built, but the original school continued to be utilized 
as an Elementary School. By the time the Marietta City Council toured 
the facility in 1947, they discovered how dangerous it had become. The 
building lacked indoor plumbing, was poorly lit and depended

[[Page E1888]]

on a single coal stove for heating. The old wooden structure was 
condemned as a fire trap and demolished, with plans for a new structure 
in place.
  Everyone knew ``separate but equal'' was a failure. Not just a 
failure, but a fundamentally dishonest proposition--a dereliction of 
the duty we have towards our children to provide them with a brighter 
future than our own. But for sixty years this was the reality of Plessy 
v. Ferguson that educators all over the country had to face. Despite 
these struggles, principals and teachers like A. Tolliver, Luke B. 
Norris, Mrs. Louella Patterson and Professor M. J. Woods worked hard to 
make the Lemon Street school a success. Professor Woods was also the 
principal of the neighboring Lemon Street High School, which went on to 
gain accreditation and distinction for its academics, its athletic 
program and its marching band.
  I commend the Lemon Street Heritage Group for their efforts to 
acknowledge and celebrate this history, and I am extremely proud of the 
principals and teachers of the Lemon Street School who devoted their 
lives to furthering the education of African Americans. I hope this 
school will serve as both an inspiration and a reminder to all of us--
of the battles we have won and those still to come.

                          ____________________