The Lynwood Park community in Brookhaven, Georgia began in the 1920’s on land that was previously part of the Minnie Lee Cates estate. Although other predominantly African-American communities were established in DeKalb County, Lynwood Park was the earliest.
The first Lynwood Park School was built in 1942. J. C. Lynn, administrator of the Cates estate, arranged for a fifty by one hundred fifty-foot lot from the Cates estate to be donated for the purpose of building a school. It was a one-room school constructed on Mae Avenue, with no running water and heat provided by a wood-burning stove.
The first school built by the community for the children of Lynwood Park.
According to an article by Peter Scott in the June 17, 1993 Atlanta Constitution, Church to Honor Lynwood Park Patriarch for Work in Community, some of the men in the community built the one-room school. The community provided the labor, supplies, and money to build the school.
Luke Holsey moved to Lynwood Park in 1939, and recalled, “When they wanted to move it (the school) to Chamblee, we bought the property and it stayed. Later, we bought three or four acres at the end of Osborne Drive.” In 1949 the Osborne Drive property was deeded to DeKalb County. A nine- room school was built that was the Lynwood Park Elementary and High School.
The Brown vs. Board of Education 1954 ruling asserted that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students were unconstitutional. However, in Georgia an “equalization” policy was established, where new schools or changes to schools for black students took place but schools remained segregated. Lynwood Park was one of these equalization schools.
In 1954, the state school building authority added seven classrooms, a library, an office, and a cafeteria to Lynwood Park. At the same time, the county sponsored a mechanical remodeling of the school at a cost of $37,000. Equalization schools were not equal, as facilities, books and supplies were not at the same standard as those for all-white schools.
Peter Scott attended Lynwood Park School and describes the school, “In some ways, it was ahead of its time-out of necessity. Classes focusing on a liberal arts education were provided along with those in the technical area. Student athletes were given no special privileges-the standard simply was ‘no C average, no participate’ in extra-curricular activities.”
Jim Cherry, Superintendent of Schools for DeKalb County, offered transfers to Lynwood Park students in 1965. Twenty-seven students transferred to other schools. During the same time, the Georgia Council on Human Rights went to the school board to express their belief that the small class size at Lynwood meant they were not receiving an adequate education. They wanted DeKalb County to transfer all Lynwood students to other nearby schools.
The class of 1968, led by Patricia Carter, convinced DeKalb County School Superintendent Jim Cherry to allow the Senior class to finish at Lynwood Park High School. DeKalb County allowed them to do that, with just two teachers.
After the class of 1968 graduated, the school closed and high school age students were integrated into Cross Keys High School and Chamblee High School. Elementary age students were assigned to Jim Cherry, Montgomery, and Huntley Hills Elementary School.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Dr. Hamilton Holmes, who in 1961 were the first African-Americans to integrate The University of Georgia, visited Lynwood Park School. Their visit was intended to help the students understand what to expect in a desegregated setting. Peter Scott recalls that they advised the students to stay to the right side of the hall and avoid bumping into other students.
The Lynwood Park School building remains today and is part of a city of Brookhaven park. The building is used for community, educational, and sports events. It has also been the location in recent years of a reunion of Lynwood Park students who integrated into other area schools. It gives the participants a time to recall memories of their old school and the trying times they had as the first integrators of their new schools. This event is held on the Martin Luther King holiday.