The Lincoln School Story

Premieres Tuesday, Feb.10, 2026 at 11:30 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream now with KPBS+

"The Lincoln School Story" is a half-hour documentary that examines the little-known fight for school desegregation led by a handful of Ohio mothers and their children in 1954.

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

Five mothers and their children took the school board to court and eventually their children became the first Black students to attend a high-quality local elementary school. Their judicial victory in the Midwest inspired Black parents in communities across the country.

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Marching mothers carrying protest signs.

credit: Press Gazette

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Mothers and children holding signs, mothers in front from left to right: Zella Mae Cumberland, Gertrude Clemons, Minnie Speach.

credit: Press Gazette

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Mothers and children marching and holding signs, Minnie Speach and Gertrude Clemons in front.

credit: Press Gazette

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Marching mothers and children entering the doors of Webster Elementary, the white school.

credit: Press Gazette

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Exterior of segregated school in Missouri, 1939.

credit: The Library of Congress

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Children inside segregated school located in Siloam, Greene County, Georgia in 1941.

credit: The Library of Congress

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Segregated elementary classroom.

credit: The Cleveland Press Collection, Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University

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Plaintiffs and attorneys in courtroom. Attorneys, left to right: James H. McGee, Constance Baker Motley, Russell L. Carter.

credit: Press Gazette

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Plaintiffs and Attorneys outside courtroom. Front row, left to right: Elsie Steward Young, Roxie Clemons, Zella Mae Cumberland, Gertrude Clemons Back row, left to right: Russell L. Carter, Norma Rollins, Constance Baker Motley, James H. McGee.

credit: Press Gazette

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Credits: Presented by WOSU. Distributed by APT