COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Lincoln Recreation Center holds decades of memories. The building first opened its doors back in 1941 and used to be a high school called A&M Consolidated Negro School before it changed its name in 1946 to Lincoln High School. Back then it was the social hub for College Station’s black community.
Although the school’s motto was, Forward Forever Backward Never, we are taking a walk down memory lane for Black History Month.
Former student Faye Daily, opened up to 6news about a time when her high school peers were her family.
“It made me feel real great to be able to be among people that cared for you and the community as a whole. There was a real closeness that we cared for one another,” described Daily.
One of her greatest memories was being a part of one of the last graduating classes of Lincoln High.
“I was the class of '64 and I was crowned Miss Lincoln, and I didn’t know I was gonna get it and it was just, the students still remember about that, it was a great night,” Daily laughed.
Her time at Lincoln was nurtured by mentors who cared about uplifting their students despite their circumstances.
“Some of the teachers would look more closer to me and they wanted me to really excel, and I still remember those memories those ones have passed on and they really wanted me to exceed and I wasn’t fortunate to be able to go on to college because of financials,” Daily explained.
Despite her setbacks, Daily still found success in several different careers including working at Texas A&M University as a lab assistant.
“I was determined to put forward the best and try to be the best that I could be with the help and the education that I did have,” she reflected.
Her lessons from Lincoln made her capable of making the most out of her life, and she passes these lessons on to the next generation.
“Sometimes I tell my grandchildren and great-grandchildren what I had to endure and go, you can do it don’t complain, and don’t go on because if I made it, you can make it."
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