Langston High School

This building housed Johnson City’s first African-American public high school. Named for U.S. Congressman John Mercer Langston, an educator, lawyer, and the first African-American elected to public office in the United States (Ohio, 1856). Langston High Schol was established in 1893. “Enter to Learn. Depart to Serve.” was the school’s motto. In the spring of 1897, Langston graduated its first class. Due to court-ordered racial desegregation, its last class graduated in the spring of 1963. By the fall semester of the same year, Johnson City Schools were completely integrated.