In the late 1960s, public schools in Holmes County, Mississippi and across the state were being racially integrated.

Many white parents withdrew their children from the public system and began sending them to Central Holmes, a newly established private school.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the school was established by a chapter of the White Citizens' Council.

[7] A group of young men enrolled in a vocational program funded by the federal government of the United States used their training to establish the school.

[8] On its establishment, almost every white child in Lexington was enrolled in Central Holmes Christian Academy to avoid having them attend school with black children.