Public school in Lowell, Massachusetts , United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lowell High School is a public high school located in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts, United States. The school is a part of Lowell Public Schools. The mascot name is the Red Raider and the colors are maroon & gray. Current enrollment is over 3,500 students.
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Lowell, Massachusetts was incorporated as a town in 1826 and Lowell High School opened shortly after in 1831. One of its earliest homes was a small brick building on Middlesex Street owned by the Hamilton Manufacturing Company.[2] Lowell High School was the first and remains the oldest desegregated public high school in the United States; African American Caroline Van Vronker was a student at Lowell High School in 1843, at a time when every other public high school in the United States was segregated.[3]
In 1840, the high school moved into a new building located between Kirk Street and Anne Street along the Merrimack Canal. Over the next 100 years, the school campus expanded.[4] The oldest extant building replaced the 1840s building in 1893.[5] In 1922, a large new building was built along Kirk Street to French Street and in the 1980s another building was built on the opposite side of the Merrimack Canal with connecting walkways over the canal.
In 2020, the City of Lowell began a massive redevelopment of the campus. Additions included the complete renovation of the Main and French Street buildings, the demolition of the existing 80's-era gymnasium, the construction of a new gym and five-story academic building intended for freshman use connected to the main campus, and other upgrades.
Lowell High School Clock, a gift from three classes, is frequently used as a symbol of the school (2007).
Elizabeth Ordway (1846)Teacher: Early advocate for women's suffrage in Washington territory, was one of the first group of young women recruited to become teachers in pioneer Seattle in the 1860s.
Helen Augusta Whittier (1862) Businesswoman: President, Whittier Textile Company, Educator, Suffragist. See Lowell Stories: Women's History: University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Lowell History
Esther Wilkins (????) Health Care: dental pioneer and author of Clinical Practice of the Dental Hygienist
