Memphis Technical High School was a high school that served downtown

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

from 1911 to 1987. The school building that exists today was constructed in 1927, and is operated by the Shelby County School System as the Northwest Preparatory Academy, serving children who are unable to function in a regular school environment.

History

The Memphis School Board of Education authorized the new Memphis Vocational High School in July 1911, and opened it September 1911, in the recently vacated Memphis High School building at 317 Poplar. The school was opened at the same time as the new Central High School, with the intention "to take the load off the new Central High, so that additional schools would not have to be built for some time".1 Memphis Vocational High School was the first vocational high school in the US, opening with 72 students in grades 7 to 10, before classes began to grow. In 1917, J. L. Highsaw, a classroom teacher at the school, became principal. In 1918 the school name was changed to Crockett Vocational High School, with four teachers and 232 students. In 1921 the name was changed again to Crockett Technical High School. Soon a new building was required, and it was decided that the nearby palatial Van Vleet mansion on Poplar Avenue would be demolished in favour of a modern school building. The school board paid $90,000 for the property on which the home was located, and spent $500,000 to build the new school, built by the architectural firm of Hanker, Cairns, and Wallace. Until the new building opened, overflow classes were taught in the Jefferson Annex, the old Fowlkes School on Jefferson. In 1928 the new building at 1266 Poplar was completed and the school changed its name for a final time to Memphis Technical High School. At the main entrance were four

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

s, supporting a portico on the front. Some elements from the previous Van Vleet mansion were retained, including two stone lions at the east gate (since moved to the entrance of Memphis Zoo and then to a central location within the zoo), a stone bench from the mansion's green house, and two large classic urns at the top of the entrance steps. The four columns and portico of the school's entrance themselves reflect the entrance to the Van Vleet mansion. In 1936, Tech had 47 teachers and over 1400 students. Highsaw retired in 1957 and W. A. Bourne became principal, until 1975. The school continued to grow until the "decline of the cities" in the 1970s. With the changing demographics of the inner-city, it finally closed in 1987.

Notable alumni

*James Autry - 1951. Editor ''Better Homes and Gardens'' - author of 10 books *

Aubrey Epps Aubrey Lee ("Yo-Yo") Epps (March 3, 1912 – November 13, 1984) was a Major League Baseball catcher. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He batted and threw right-handed, was 5 foot 10, and 170 pounds. Yo-Yo played just one major league game in hi ...

- 1933 - Major League Baseball player *

Gene Bearden Henry Eugene Bearden (September 5, 1920 – March 18, 2004) was an American professional baseball pitcher, a left-hander who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1947 to 1953 for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers ...

- Major League Pitcher *

Bobby Bragan Robert Randall Bragan (October 30, 1917 – January 21, 2010) was an American shortstop, catcher, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball and an influential minor league executive. His professional baseball career encompassed 73 years, from hi ...

- 1936. Major League Baseball player * Ace Cannon - 1952. Musician. "Godfather of Sax" * Burton Callicott - 1926. Artist - Teacher. Painted murals at the Pink Palace *

Charlie Musselwhite Charles Douglas Musselwhite (born January 31, 1944) is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the white bluesmen who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal f ...

- 1962. Musician "Chicago Harp style" * Don Nix - Songwriter, Record Producer, Creator of the "Memphis Sound" *

Curtis Person Curtis S. Person Jr. (November 27, 1934 – September 4, 2020) was an American politician and a member of the Tennessee Senate for the 31st district, which is composed of part of Shelby County. He initially served in the Tennessee House of Repre ...

- 1933. Golfer *

Kay Starr Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...

- 1940. Singer *

Travis Wammack Travis Wammack (born November 1946 in Walnut, Mississippi, United States) is an American rock and roll guitarist from Memphis, Tennessee. Described as an "instumental genius" and "a precursor to guitar-hero shreddding", he is known for his "mag ...

- Musician - "fastest guitar player in the South" * William Walton - Co-founder of Holiday Inns

References

{{reflist * ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'', September 4, 1911

External links

Memoriam ListingsMemphis Tech High Alumni websiteTech High Class of 1950Tech High Class of 1951 Tech High Class of 1957The Tech Ledger
Educational institutions established in 1878 Educational institutions disestablished in 1987 Schools in Memphis, Tennessee Defunct schools in Tennessee 1878 establishments in Tennessee 1987 disestablishments in Tennessee