# Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn)

Abraham Lincoln High School is a public high school located at 2800 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, New York under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Education. The school was built in 1929, and since graduated four Nobel Prize laureates. The current principal is Ari A. Hoogenboom.
It was built during the Great Depression, and to save money, one set of blueprints was used for Lincoln and other high schools in New York City, including Bayside High School, Samuel J. Tilden High School, John Adams High School, and Grover Cleveland High School.
The school features five gymnasiums, an outdoor football and track and field, a swimming pool, a photography studio, an animal science lab, an office classroom and an auditorium.

## History

The school was established in 1929 and named for former US president, Abraham Lincoln. From when the school opened its doors in September 1930 through the next 25 years, the school principal was Dr. Gabriel R. Mason. In 1983, Dr. Jack Pollock, the principal, reported that 8 of 10 graduates attended college and/or university.
However, by 2010, C.J. Hughes of The New York Times reported that Lincoln High School had "struggled" with student academic achievement. In 2009, the school only had a 58% graduation rating. The SAT averages for the school were 411 in reading, 432 in mathematics, and 401 in writing. The New York State averages during that year were 480 in reading, 500 in mathematics, and 470 in writing.
In 2014, Alan Bersin announced the Mildred and Arthur Bersin Scholarship, to be awarded to students from Gompers Preparatory Academy, Abraham Lincoln High School, and the Preuss School who are accepted into Harvard University.

## Admissions

As of the 2014–15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,325 students and 116.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 20.0:1. There were 1,506 students (64.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 85 (3.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
The school's racial composition is very diverse. African American students made up 38.3% of the school's student population, a plurality of the student body. White students made up over one-quarter (26.3%), Hispanic and Latino (of any race) students made up over one-fifth (21.1%), Asian American students made up 14.0%, and Native Americans made up the remaining 0.3%.
Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity 2020–2021 :
| Black | Hispanic | White | Asian | Two or more races | American Indian/Alaska Native | Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander |
| 753 | 486 | 264 | 259 | 22 | 17 | 15 |

## Extracurricular activities

The school offers many extracurricular activities, including Acting, Animal Care Squad Anime, Arista National Honor Society, Cheerleading, Chess, Chinese, Conflict Negotiation & Mediation, Debate Team, Gay–Straight Alliance, Guitar, Hiking, History, Key Club, Yearbook, Library Squad, Lincoln Ambassadors, Lincoln Log (newspaper), Marine Lab Squad, South Asian club, Weightlifting, and Yearbook.

### Virtual Enterprise

The school has a virtual enterprise program where students create and manage their virtual businesses from product development, production, and distribution to marketing, sales, human resources, accounting, finance, and web design.

### Veterinary science

The school has a veterinary science program in which students work with live animals.

### Internship program

Students in the 11th grade can earn a credit by completing an internship with a private business, nonprofit organization or government agency that partners with the school. Students learn employment skills, develop professional relationships and receive professional advice.

### Athletics

The school offers a variety of varsity and junior varsity sports. These sports include basketball, baseball, football, bowling, cross Country, handball, track and field, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball. Lincoln varsity sports games were also televised on City Gridiron.
In 2013, borough president Marty Markowitz and councilman Domenic Recchia funded a new $2 million fitness center at the school. On November 27, 2018, the school along with alumnus Isaiah Whitehead commenced the opening of a new weight room.
Lincoln athletic director Renan Ebeid was recognized by All-Stars Teachers contest by Major League Baseball.

## Notable alumni

* Nikita Ababiy (born 1998), class of 2016, American professional boxer
* Marv Albert (né Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; born 1941), class of 1959, television sportscaster.
* Ken Auletta (born 1942), class of 1960, author.
* Eddie Antar, former businessman/owner of Crazy Eddie.
* Francine Beers (1924–2014), class of 1942, stage, film, and television actress.
* Richard E. Bellman (1920–1984), class of 1937, applied mathematician and control theorist who invented dynamic programming in 1953.
* Paul Berg (1926–2023), class of 1943, recipient of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
* Alan Bersin (born 1946), high school valedictorian, President Obama's "Border Czar," US Attorney for the Southern District of California, California Secretary of Education, Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, US Department of Homeland Security Secretary for International Affairs, and INTERPOL vice president
* Haylynn Cohen (born 1980), fashion model
* Herbert Cohen (born 1940), 2x Olympic foil fencer
* Bernard Cornfeld (1927–1995), businessman and international financier.
* Seymour Chwast (born 1931), class of 1949, graphic designer and illustrator
* Joan Copeland (1922–2022), stage and film actress
* Millie Deegan (1919–2002), professional baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
* Neil Diamond (born 1941), class of 1958, singer/performer
* Pete Emelianchik (born 1943), class of 1960, football player, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles
* Gene Federico (1918–1999), class of 1936, graphic designer
* Nelson Figueroa (born 1974), class of 1992, major league pitcher, MLB, Houston Astros
* John Forsythe (née Jacob Lincoln Freund, 1918–2010), class of 1934, film and television actor.
* Frank Frazetta (1928–2010), artist.
* Shirley Gorelick (1924–2000), figurative painter, sculptor, and printmaker
* Louis Gossett Jr. (1936–2024), class of 1954, basketball player, Academy Award-winning actor.
* Howard Greenfield (1936–1986) songwriter.
* Michael Greif, class of 1978; 4-time Tony Award- nominated theatrical director (Rent, Grey Gardens, Next to Normal, Dear Evan Hansen)
* David S. Guzick (born 1952), class of 1969. Dean of the University of Rochester School of Medicine; President of the University of Florida Health System. Member of the Institute of Medicine.
* Joseph Heller (1923–1999), class of 1942, author (Catch-22)
* Leona Helmsley (1920–2007), real-estate businesswoman, noted hotelier, nicknamed "The Queen of Mean".
* Raul Hilberg, class of 1942, historian of genocide.
* Elizabeth Holtzman, class of 1958, Democratic congresswoman
* David Julius (born 1955), American physiologist and Nobel Prize laureate known for his work on molecular mechanisms of pain sensation and heat.
* Jerome Karle (1918–2013; born Jerome Karfunkle), class of 1933, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
* Harvey Keitel (born 1939), stage, film, and television actor
* Arthur Kornberg (1918–2007), class of 1933, recipient of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
* Adam Kownacki (born 1989), professional boxer
* Mort Künstler (born 1927), artist
* Jack Laub (born 1926), professional basketball player and pharmaceutical executive
* David Lazar (born 1957) writer, editor, and professor. Guggenheim Fellow in Nonfiction, 2015–16.
* Sheila Levrant de Bretteville (born 1940), class of 1959, graphic designer, artist and educator
* Jay Maisel (born 1931), photographer
* Herbie Mann (né Herbert Jay Solomon, 1930–2003), jazz flutist.
* Wallace Markfield (1926–2002), class of 1943, comic novelist.
* Stephon Marbury (born 1977), class of 1995, professional basketball player (NBA).
* Lee Mazzilli (born 1955), class of 1973, 1986 World Champion major league baseball player (New York Mets, New York Yankees), manager and coach
* Earl-Jean McCrea (born 1942), singer/vocalist
* Hank Medress (1938–2007), singer (The Tokens), best known for "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
* Arthur Miller (1915–2005), class of 1932, playwright and screenwriter (Death of a Salesman, All My Sons, The Crucible, The Misfits).
* Larry Namer, class of 1966, businessman who founded the E! TV network
* Dave Newmark (born 1946), professional basketball player
* Irving Penn (1917–2009), photographer
* Bertram L. Podell (1925–2005), politician
* Robert Pollack (biologist) (born 1940), professor of biological sciences and author
* Ronald Ribman, class of 1950, poet and playwright
* Buddy Rich, jazz drummer and bandleader
* Desi Rodriguez, professional basketball player
* Saul Rogovin, major league pitcher
* Marty Rosen (born 1943), former American football player
* Jack M. Sasson, Professor of Jewish Studies and Hebrew Bible, and of Classics
* Neil Sedaka (born 1939), class of 1956, singer-songwriter and pianist
* Mort Shuman, singer-songwriter and pianist
* David Sidikman (born 1934), lawyer and politician
* Jonathan Sperber, class of 1969, European historian and biographer of Karl Marx.
* Alex Steinweiss (1917– 2011), class of 1934, graphic designer and inventor of the album cover
* Lance Stephenson, class of 2009, professional basketball player (NBA)
* Louis Stettner, (born 1922), class of 1939, photographer noted for his pictures of "everyday people doing ordinary things" in both New York City and Paris.
* Frank Tarloff (1916–1999), class of 1932, Academy Award-winning screenwriter (Father Goose).
* Sebastian Telfair, class of 2004, professional basketball player (NBA).
* Natalie Arras Tepper (1888–1950), artist
* Arthur Tress, class of 1958, surrealist photographer.
* Sherry Turkle, class of 1965, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology (MIT)
* Jack B. Weinstein, class of 1939, Brooklyn federal district court judge.
* Dallas Williams, MLB player and coach.
* Isaiah Whitehead, class of 2014, professional basketball player formerly played for the Brooklyn Nets (NBA), now in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
* Sid Youngelman (1931–1991), professional football lineman in the National Football League and American Football League
* Peter Zimroth, attorney and court-appointed monitor of the NYPD's policies and practices regarding stop-and-frisk.
* Paul Zweig, poet, memoirist, and critic, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry finalist and Guggenheim Fellow