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Lyons’ Legacy
B Y G RAC E B E A S L E Y | P HOTO GR AP HY BY TR UITT O ’N EAL
Durham Public Schools leadership celebrated the groundbreaking
of Lyons Farm Elementary School on Scott King Road on March 10. They were joined by the Durham County Board of Commissioners and surviving members of the Lyon family, who once owned the 50-plus acres of land at the school’s site. The Lyons leased portions of it out to tobacco farmers, fought throughout Reconstruction to keep their land, and were one of many African American families who contributed to the growth and economic opportunities in Durham. Lyons Farm Elementary School is slated to open August 2022. 14
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1 Reginald Lyon, Phyllis Johnson-Wiggins, Herbert Butler – holding a picture of her parents, Eddie M. Lyon and Eula Lyon, at the closing of the farm’s purchase in 1946 – Ronald Lyon and John Lyon. 2 DPS Superintendent Pascal Mubenga. 3 DPS Board of Education Member Jovonia Lewis and Chair Bettina Umstead. 4 DPS Chief Communications Officer Chip Sudderth. 5 Durham County Commissioners Chair Brenda Howerton. 6 Durham County Commissioner Heidi Carter, Jovonia Lewis, DPS Board of Education Member Natalie Beyer, Bettina Umstead, Brenda Howerton, DPS Board of Education Vice Chair Mike Lee, DPS Board of Education Member Frederick Xavier Ravin III and Pascal Mubenga.
