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| Mound City Lovejoy High School Building |
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| Submitted by Harold Johnson |
The History of Mound City Lovejoy High School
Mound City (population 692) is located in very far southern Illinois about five miles north of Cairo.
It is the County Seat of Pulaski County. Mound City sits on the banks of the Ohio River a short distance from its merger
with the Mississippi River. Two Railroad lines, the Illinois Central Gulf and the Conrail, run tracks through Mound
City. Illinois Route 37 is the main roadway leading to town which sits about 1 mile east of Interstate Highway
57. Some great reading on the history of the town can be found at http://www.multied.com/Navy/CWNavy/moundcity.html which talks about the naval ship, the USS Mound CIty, which fought in the Civil War, and http://www.illinoishistory.com/moundcitymassacre.html which talks of the murder of settlers by renegade Indians in the early 1800s..
The history of the town of Mound City and the former Lovejoy High School are provided in
the following documents submitted by Harold Johnson, Lovejoy HS Class of 1959.
| History of Mound City, Illinois |
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| Provided by Harold Johnson |
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| Submitted by Harold Johnson |
Meridian High School and grade school are located in Mounds. Harold Johnson (Class
of 1959) tells us the Lovejoy High School building has been razed..
Mound City Lovejoy High School Quick Facts
Year opened: 1892
Year closed: 1962
Consolidated to: Meridian School
District (Mounds)
Lovejoy HS team nickname: the "Pirates"
Team colors: Purple
& Gold
School Fight Song: "Oh,
Lovejoy High School"
Quick Facts Information provided by HAROLD JOHNSON
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Athletics
Mound City Lovejoy HS competed
in basketball and track and field in the Southern Illinois Conference of Colored High Schools from its inception in 1919.
The team also fielded a baseball team that competed against other segregated schools
in Egypt. Cross country may have been offered as well.Coaches names and team records are being sought at this time.
Boys Basketball
MCLHS competed in a real
hotbed of basketball in southern Illinois. Though competitive year in and year out, the Lovejoy Pirates won only one
District title. Unfortunately the team record and coach's name of this and other Mound City Lovejoy HS teams are
not currently available.
1957-58
District Champions Coach
Walter Eagleson
*Athletic information provided by Robert Pruter!
FACTS AND INFORMATION
The following informational documents and photos were provided by Harold
Johnson (Class of 1959). If you place your cursor on top of any photo and "left click your mouse you will be
able to view an enlarged version of these photos. Thank you Harold, this is an excellent way to help us preserve this
important part of American History!!
| Lovejoy HS Class of 1944 |
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| Faculty of Lovejoy H.S. |
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| "Left Click" cursor on each photo for enlarged view. |
| Principals and Teachers of Lovejoy H.S. |
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MEMORIES
**From Harold Johnson (Class of 1959):
"I will be talking to some other people to try to jog their memory some on the sports history of the school.I was there
from 55-59. James Green was our coach my first year.He was only there 1 year leaving to go to the Baltimore
Colts football camp.The next year Mr. Eagleson replace him.He was there when I graduate in 1959.
Before 1959 I beleive Most of our competing teams were other black schools in Illnois, Ky. Mo, and Tenn. Sometimes we
would take two day trips, playing one team Friday night and another Saturday night. We would return on Sunday.
When I was in Elementary school I was looking forward for thist. Unforunate
for me 58 was the last year for those trips. In 59 we start to playing more local white schools. I will try to
get you more history about Lovejoy.I am sure others will chime in.I wii forward your site to my Lovejoy contacts."
**From Wendell O'Neal, Ph.D. (Class of 1960):
"I attended Lovejoy High School from 1956 - 1958, and have information to fill in some of the blanks in
the list of teachers. My older brother, father and grandmother all graduated from Lovejoy, and my father was a 7th grade
teacher at Lovejoy (Carver) Junior High School. Mrs. Katie Barbee was one of his teachers, and
a friend of our family as I was growing up. She lived her later years in St. Louis, MO. Another one of his teachers,
Mrs. Olive Marie Cochran (whose husband was the local barber), was his colleague teaching 6th grade.
Mr.
Green was James "Jimmy" Green, and Mr. Eagleson was Walter Vashon Eagleson.
When Mr. Eagleson left Lovejoy, I believe he went to Indiana (possibly Indianapolis) where he continued
to teach and owned a laundromat. Although Lovejoy was much too small to have a football team, Mr. Green loved
to play pickup football in the street with boys from the school.
Although basketball was the primary sport at Lovejoy,
I can confirm that cross country was offered during the time that I attended, and there was also interscholastic softball.
I
noted Almena Forbes English in the picture that you posted of the Class of 1944. She is still very
active in planning and managing Lovejoy reunions that have been held in recent years."
| Lovejoy Junior High School Basketball Team 1954 |
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| Submitted by Dr. Wendell O'Neal |
Seeking Further Information
If you have any further information or corrections for the history or achievements of the Lovejoy High
School students, faculty, and the townspeople of Mound City, please write to us via e-mail at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net. We are especially interested in a photo of the Lovejoy High High School building. You can also write to us
via real mail at:
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva St.
Chicago, Il. 60631
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