Langston School to hold 16th reunion
Langston Junior-Senior High School will celebrate 114 years of existence during its 16th school reunion Wednesday through Saturday at The Hotel Hot Springs & Spa, 305 Malvern Ave., with former students and alumni from across the country expected to attend.
Registration is set for 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 8 a.m. to noon Friday, in the mezzanine area of the hotel. The registration fee is $125 and anyone who did not receive a notice may visit http://www.langstonbulldogs.com, email lab1124@yahoo.com or call 2826120 for more information.
“Langston was a unique high school in Hot Springs, the only high school for black students there was,” Lavenia Hicks, alumni secretary, said Thursday. “I don’t know what it is that keeps everyone coming back, maybe it’s just that Bulldog spirit.”
Originally called the Rugg Street School because of its location on the site where the Lee School was located, it produced its first graduating class in 1910. Graduates included Madge Mulholland, Mrytle Sweet, Henrietta Jenkins, Griffin Glover, Sonny Glover, Warren Shelton, Ernest English, Ida Johnson, Blanche Johnson and Rosebud Powell. Frank Long was principal at the time, a news release said.
The Rugg Street School and Hot Springs Hot School were destroyed in a fire in 1913, and the Rugg Street school began holding its classes in the basement of Visitor’s Chapel A.M.E. Church and in an auditorium on Gul-
pha Street called “The Casino.”
In 1914, a “rather imposing”
14-room building was erected on Silver Street and was renamed Langston High School in honor of prominent African-American U.S. Congressman John Mercer Langston, who was elected in Virginia during the Reconstruction Period. Long was still principal and the faculty increased to 19 members.
“Those who left a lasting impression on the community during this period” included Mattie Dover Young, Lucy MacAdoo, Nellie Eden, Rosetta Graham, Lucille Buchanan and Milton Callaway, the release said. Long was succeeded as principal by R.C. Barrow, J.H. McAlister, G.W. Ish and Percy Goldstein, for whom the Goldstein School was named.
After Goldstein’s death, Coy Carr, a nephew of Judge J.C. Carr, became principal, followed by Edwin Bayliss and French J. Hicks. “Although Langston never had more than
250 students in the senior high school, the values of courage, loyalty and preparation were instilled to the extent the school became known throughout this section of the country for its prowess in forensics, music, drama and athletics,” the release said, noting, “The name Langston Bulldogs demanded respect throughout the region.”
In 1941, H.A. Henderson followed Hicks as principal and in
1949, the intermediate grades were transferred to Goldstein School and Langston became a junior-senior high school. In
1950, Langston was accredited by the North Central Association, making it the third African-American school in Arkansas to be recognized by the national organization.
In 1968, Langston became a junior high with integration of public schools taking place across the South, but after undergoing a transition to a vocational school, it was re-established as Langston Elementary School, carrying on its legacy of learning.
The Langston Reunion was first held in 1980 when members of the class of 1962 — who had been holding class reunions — decided to hold a school reunion instead.
According to the reunion program, “Some time in the late 1970s or early months of
1980, a group of Langstonians had gathered at the ‘The Garage Club House,’ each imbibing in his liquid libation of choice when the subject of a class reunion was brought up by Stanley Mason.”
William Watkins, who is now executive director of the Webb Center, Governor Rhodes, and “a young Thomas Anderson” were among the group who had gathered at the home of Alphonso Logan. They were discussing the next class reunion when Logan’s wife suggested having a school reunion instead of a class reunion.
Other Langstonians, including H.T. Bonner, Johnny Lee Williams and Bobbie Snowden, joined in the planning with the first meeting held at Bonner’s barber shop. Alphonso Logan and his wife were the first coordinators of the Langston Alumni Reunion Association with the first reunion held in July 1980.
Initially the reunions were held every three years, but in
2000 or 2001 they voted to start having them every two years, Lavenia Hicks said, noting, “More and more people were passing and we just felt we needed to do them more often.”
The group will hold its welcome program at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and a breakfast at
8 a.m. Thursday, both in ballrooms I, II and III at the hotel. A picnic will be held at 12:30 p.m. Friday at Hot Springs High School cafeteria.
On Saturday, beginning at
9:30 a.m., there will be a memorial service at Greater St. Paul Baptist Church, 497 Crescent St., followed by a program at the Webb Center, 127 Pleasant St., at 10:45 a.m. and a banquet at 6:30 p.m. back at the hotel.