Long School

{{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox school | name = Long School | type = [[Public school (government funded)|Public]] [[elementary school]] | location = 2520 Franklin Street<br/>Omaha, Nebraska <br />United States | image = | district = [[Omaha Public Schools]] | grades = [[Kindergarten|K]]-[[eighth grade|8]] | principal = | faculty = | enrollment = | colors = | mascot = | motto = | free_label = Opened in 1886 | free_label2 = | free_text = | free_text2 = | website = | coordinates = {{Coord|41|16|30|N|95|56|58|W|display=inline,title|type:edu_region:US-NE}} }} '''Long School''' was once located at 2520 Franklin Street in the [[Near North Side (Omaha, Nebraska)|Near North Side]] area of [[North Omaha|North]] [[Omaha]], [[Nebraska]], United States. Long the focal point of the surrounding neighborhood,<ref>Hruska, E.A. (1980) ''The Long School Neighborhood: A Community Profile.'' Center for Applied Urban Research, Long School Neighborhood Association, University of Nebraska at Omaha, North Omaha Community Development Corporation. p i.</ref><ref>[http://www.livelyomaha.org/Neighborhood_Omaha/Long_School/LS_Place_Game.html "Long School Place Game Workshop October 6"], Omaha by Design. Retrieved 12/28/07.</ref> Long School was one of Omaha's "[[black school]]s". In 1952 it was identified as being the only school in Omaha with a 100% [[African Americans in Omaha, Nebraska|African-American]] [[student body]] population.<ref>(1976) ''Presentation of a Portrait: Federal supplement. [First Series.]'' United States District Court. p 297.</ref> The first two [[African American Teachers|African-American teachers]] in public education in Omaha were assigned to Long School in 1940.<ref>(1976) ''Presentation of a Portrait: Federal supplement. [First Series.]'' United States District Court. p 317.</ref> In 1947 the first African-American [[Head Teacher|principal]] in Omaha, Eugene Skinner, was appointed to the school.<ref>[http://www.ahamo.org/blacks_in_omaha%202.htm Blacks in Omaha.] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130801225910/http://www.ahamo.org/blacks_in_omaha%202.htm |date=2013-08-01 }} Retrieved 12/28/07.</ref>

==Building history== Long school was named after Eben K. Long, a [[Union Pacific Railroad]] employee who was on the school board, as well as serving as a judge. (Union Pacific is also headquartered in Omaha, where the school was located.) The building was constructed in 1893. Designed by locally renowned architect [[John Latenser, Sr.]], the school was lauded for "decorating and beautifying" its hall.<ref>''School and Home Education.'' Public School Publishing Company. p 200.</ref> With eight classrooms for [[kindergarten]] through [[eighth grade]], the school cost $25,000 to construct.<ref>Nebraska Department of Public Instruction. (1892) ''School Buildings and Grounds in Nebraska.'' p 164.</ref> The building was closed and demolished in the 1980s.

==Whitney Young== When [[Civil Rights Movement]] leader [[Whitney Young]] arrived in Omaha in 1950, [[Omaha Public Schools]] employed twelve Black educators. These educators, including several from Long School, quickly taught Young about schools in Omaha. Eugene Skinner, the school's principal, invited Young to speak at the commencement that year.<ref>Dickerson, D.C. (1998) ''Militant Mediator: Whitney M. Young, Jr.'' University Press of Kentucky. p 74.</ref>

==See also== * [[Education in North Omaha, Nebraska]] * [[List of public schools in Omaha, Nebraska]]

==External links== * [https://northomahahistory.com/2016/05/16/the-long-school-neighborhood/ "A History of the Long School Neighborhood"] by Adam Fletcher Sasse for NorthOmahaHistory.com (May 16, 2016).

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Elementary schools in Omaha, Nebraska]] [[Category:Schools in North Omaha, Nebraska]] [[Category:Historically segregated African-American schools in Nebraska]] [[Category:Defunct schools in Nebraska]] [[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska]] [[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in the 1980s]]