George Washington Carver High School is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
in
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
. It is a part of the
Montgomery Public Schools system. The groundbreaking for a new Carver High School was held April 2, 2008 at the construction site just off Oak Street across from the existing school. Its design utilizes modern advances in architecture, construction and technology. The $36 million school is the first of six new schools scheduled in the first phase of the MPS building program. The Carver High School ribbon cutting ceremony was held in August 2010 with the school serving approximately 1,200 students.
Carver serves residents of the main section of
Maxwell Air Force Base.
History
George Washington Carver High School began in September 1948 as a vocational school to a majority black community. Clarence M. Dannelly, then superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools, held the ground breaking ceremony on Fairview Avenue on April 13, 1948.
The school opened on January 4, 1949. At that time there were 24 classrooms, an office suite, and a lunchroom which also served as an auditorium. There were 875 students and 23 faculty members including principal, M. H. Griffin, a graduate of the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. This connection is why Carver High School adopted the
wolverine
The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...
as its mascot. The curriculum consisted of the basic subjects and physical education.
In subsequent years, Carver was expanded both physically and academically. Eight classrooms were added from 1951–1952. An elementary unit, consisting of 20 rooms and a gymnasium were added from 1952−1953. By 1959, the enrollment had increased to nearly 1,700 students and an 18-room extension was added. This extension consisted of science labs, home-making rooms, mechanic shops and workshops.
In 1982, the Carver Creative and Performing Arts Center (CCPAC) was created
Athletics
In 1964, Carver won the negro AAA (the largest division at the time) state football championship in 1964 with a record of 9-0-1, defeating Cobb Avenue of
Anniston, Alabama, Anniston.
Carver won the 4A state championship in both 1978 and 1979.
Carver High School won the Class 6A Basketball state championship title for 2012 and 2015. It also earned a regional title in 2009.
Notable alumni
*
Willie Alexander
Willie "Loco" Alexander (born January 13, 1943) is an American singer and keyboardist based in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
He played with the Lost, the Bagatelle and the Grass Menagerie, before becoming a member of the Velvet Underground in la ...
, NFL player
*
Caesar Belser
Caesar Edward Belser (September 13, 1944 – March 5, 2016) was an American football linebacker and safety who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He is the father of Jason Belser.
He played col ...
, NFL player
*
Tom Boswell, former
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
player
*
Byron Braggs, NFL player
*
Milford Brown
Milford Wesley Brown, Jr. (born August 15, 1980) is a former American football guard who previously played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2002 Supplemental Draft. He played ...
, NFL player
*
Aundray Bruce
Aundray Bruce (born April 30, 1966) is a former American football player. He played outside linebacker and tight end as a pro. As a college football player he played defensive end at Auburn University before playing for the Atlanta Falcons and L ...
, former NFL linebacker
*
Oscar Gamble, former MLB player
*
Shaun Dion Hamilton, NFL player
*
Terry Hardy, NFL player
*
Jeremy Johnson, college quarterback
*
Merlakia Jones, former
Women's National Basketball Association
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...
player
*
Chris Relf, American football
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
*
Fernandus Vinson, NFL player
*
Mack Wilson, NFL player
*
Melvin Tyus Jr., football player at Troy University
*
Shaun Dion Hamilton, NFL player
See also
*
Booker T. Washington School (Montgomery, Alabama)
References
External links
High schools in Montgomery, Alabama
Public high schools in Alabama
1945 establishments in Alabama
Educational institutions established in 1945
Historically segregated African-American schools in Alabama
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