# Lowell High School (Massachusetts)

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.

## History

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. 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.
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. The oldest extant building replaced the 1840s building in 1893. 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.

## Notable alumni

* Charles Herbert Allen (1865) Politician: Congressman; Governor of Massachusetts
* James Cook Ayer (1838) Manufacturer: Wealthiest patent medicine businessman of his day
* George D. Behrakis (1951) Founder of Dooner Laboratories and later purchased Muro Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
* Milton Bradley (1854) Manufacturer: Largest game manufacturer in the United States
* Benjamin Franklin Butler (1830s) Politician: Congressman; Governor of Massachusetts
* George Whitefield Chadwick (1871) Musician: American composer.
* Rosalind Elias (1947) Musician: Opera singer
* Gustavus Fox (1830s) Politician: Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War
* John Galvin Jr. (1983) Athlete: Professional Football
* Frederic Thomas Greenhalge (1859) Politician: Congressman; Governor of Massachusetts
* Lynn Gunn (2012) Musician: Frontwoman, band PVRIS
* Mary Hallaren (1925) Director: Women's Army Corps
* Tom Hayes (1978) Businessman and Author
* Helen Sawyer Hogg (1921) Astronomer
* Deborah Hopkinson (1969) Author
* Jujubee (drag queen) (2002) Drag queen, contestant on Rupaul's Drag Race
* Jack Kerouac (1939) Author: On the Road; The Dharma Bums
* Ted Leonsis (1973) Businessman: Former AOL president; founder and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment
* Alice Parker Lesser Lawyer, suffragist
* Gerard Lew (1907) Founder: DuSable Museum of African American History See Lowell Black History: University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Lowell History
* Teresa Lew (1914) Teacher: See Lowell Black History: University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Lowell History
* Elinor Lipman (1968) Author: The Boston Globe
* Ed McMahon (1940) Entertainer
* Marty Meehan (1974) Politician: Democratic; Congressman, President of the University of Massachusetts system
* F. Bradford Morse (1938) Politician: Republican; Congressman
* William Henry O'Connell (1877) Cardinal: Archdiocese of Boston
* 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.
* John Jacob Rogers (????) Politician: Republican; Congressman
* Tom Sexton (1958) Author
* Ezekiel A. Straw (1830s) Politician: Governor of New Hampshire
* Billy Sullivan (American football) (1933) Businessman: Owner of an original franchise, the Boston Patriots, of the American Football League
* Johnny Thomson (????) Race car driver: 1959 Indianapolis 500 pole sitter
* Paul Tsongas (1958) Politician: Democratic; Congressman; Senator
* Micky Ward (1991) Professional Boxer and Philanthropist
* Edgar A. Wedgwood (1874) Politician: adjutant general of the Utah National Guard
* 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