Interior of Lincoln School, Bledsoe County, Tennessee

Lincoln School, Bledsoe County, Tennessee, 1926-1965

All the walls and ceilings of the Lincoln School are covered with decorative pressed tin, an illustration of the pride that the Pikeville, Tennessee, community had in their school. Though the Rosenwald Fund had laid out more detailed standards for school buildings in the 1920s and had tightened compliance, the people who built and used the schools found ways large and small to express their taste and show community pride.

The Lincoln School opened in 1926. Local churches would come together for dinners to raise funds to purchase school supplies. When the school closed, it was purchased by a local carpenter and used for many years to store lumber. Former students came together, purchased the building, and led a restoration. Today it serves as a community center, hosting birthday parties, funerals, and a variety of civic dinners.

About the photographer: Andrew Feiler

Andrew Feiler is a fifth-generation Georgian. Having grown up Jewish in Savannah, he has been shaped by the rich complexities of the American South. Andrew has long been active in civic life. He has helped create over a dozen community initiatives, serves on multiple not-for-profit boards, and is an active advisor to numerous elected officials and political candidates. His art is an extension of his civic values.

Andrew's photographs have been featured in such publications as Smithsonian, Wall Street Journal, Architect, Preservation, Slate, Lenscratch, Oxford American, and The Bitter Southerner. His work has been displayed in galleries and museums including solo exhibitions at such venues as the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Octagon Museum in Washington, D.C., International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, NC, and Burrison Gallery of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His work is in a number of public and private collections including that of Atlanta University Center and Emory University. More of his work can be seen at andrewfeiler.com.