Locker High School

W.P. Locker School was a public secondary school in Wiggins, Mississippi, United States. It was the only high school in Stone County for black students until the public schools were integrated in 1969. The buildings are now Stone Middle School.

Locker High School
Address
532 E Central Ave

Wiggins, Mississippi 39577

United States
Coordinates30.8509447°N 89.1337816°W / 30.8509447; -89.1337816
Information
Former nameStone County Training School
TypePublic
GradesK–12

History

Stone county did not provide any educational opportunities for black students past grade 8 until 1955, when Stone County Training School was built. The first high school for black students in Stone County was renamed W.P. Locker High School in 1959 in honor of W.P. Locker, who was born a slave in 1854 in North Carolina, and later became an educator.[1] Although it was called a high school, Locker contained grades K–12. In 1969, due to federally mandated integration, the Locker students were transferred to Stone High School. Locker was demoted to a middle school, and its principal, Needham Jones, a former Tuskeegee airman,[2] was demoted to assistant principal at the middle school, although he was more qualified than the white principal of Stone. Jones sued and won, but retired rather than take the position of principal at Stone High School.[3]

References
  1. "Stone County honors Locker High School". 17 February 2017.
  2. "Fun Fact:Needham Jones". Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  3. "Needham Jones". Retrieved 18 December 2018.
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