'The Lincoln School Story' to air on PBS stations across Ohio in February

"The Lincoln School Story," a new half-hour video documentary from Ohio Humanities that examines the little-known fight for school desegregation led by a handful of Ohio mothers and their children in 1954, will make its television broadcast debut on PBS stations across Ohio this month. CET-TV, based in Cincinnati, will air the film on Feb. 16 at 11 p.m. and on Feb. 26 at 5 p.m.

In the wake of the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, school districts nationwide were mandated to integrate. But when African American mothers in Hillsboro tried to enroll their children in the local, historically white elementary schools, the school board refused to comply. 

Five mothers and their children took the school board to court. With Constance Baker Motley as the lead lawyer and help from a fledgling NAACP chapter, they started one of the nation’s first civil rights marches to end school segregation. The Lincoln School Story is the first public television documentary to feature these women and highlight their role – and Ohio’s role – in the early civil rights movement. Award-winning filmmaker Andrea Torrice weaves personal interviews with rare archival photos and film. 

For more information about the film, including a complete list of airtimes, in-person screenings, and related events, visit lincolnschoolstory.com.

Ohio Humanities is a statewide nonprofit that shares stories to spark conversations and inspire ideas by hosting programs and awarding grants that support storytellers statewide, from museums to journalists to documentary filmmakers. For more information, visit ohiohumanities.org.