Harding University High School is located at 2001 Alleghany Street, in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. It was established as a Math, Science, and Technology school in 1992, and added an

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

to its program in 1995. The motto of the school has changed several times. It is currently: "Where Every Student Matters."

Band of Gold

The Harding University High School Band of Gold, led by director Anthony Jones, made national coverage in January 2009 for their invitation to the 56th Inaugural Parade of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. Harding's was the only band chosen from North Carolina to march in the parade. The 110 person marching band made headlines for the fifty thousand dollars needed to travel to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, but were initially unable to raise the funds. Supporters across North Carolina made contributions to the band including

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

wide receiver

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics *Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager *Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, a ...

, who donated $25,000. Anthony S. Jones ended his twenty-year tenure as Director of Bands in 2015, moving on to serve as Director of Bands at

Livingstone College Livingstone College is a private, historically black Christian college in Salisbury, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Livingstone College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Sout ...

History

Named after former superintendent Harry Patrick Harding, the school opened in the fall of 1935 under the name Harry P. Harding High School. It remained as that name until the school moved to its current location on Alleghany Street in 1961.

The Dorothy Counts Controversy

Dorothy Counts Dorothy "Dot" Counts-Scoggins (born March 25, 1942) is an American civil rights pioneer, and one of the first black students admitted to the Harry Harding High School. After four days of harassment that threatened her safety, her parents withdr ...

was the first black student admitted to the Harry P. Harding High School in 1957. She was one of the four black students enrolled at various all-white schools in the district for the first time in American history. After four days of massive

harassment Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral ...

that threatened her safety, her parents forced her to withdraw from the school.

Notable alumni

Walt Aikens Walter Aikens Jr. (born June 19, 1991) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Dolphins in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Liberty University. High school career Aikens attended Ha ...

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

cornerback *

, civil rights figure *

Ray Durham Ray Durham (born November 30, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. He is a 14-year major league veteran owning a .277 lifetime batting average with 1,249 runs scored, 2,054 hits, 440 doubles, 79 triples, 192 home runs, 875 r ...

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

second baseman and 2x All-Star (1998, 2000) * Anthony Hamilton, singer, songwriter, and record producer *

Roy Hord Jr. Ambrose Roy Hord Jr. (December 25, 1934October 24, 2002) was a professional American football offensive lineman who played in the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). Early years Hord was born in Charlotte, Nort ...

and

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

player * David Joy, author and short-story writer *

Ron Killings Ronnie Aaron Killings (born January 19, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand under the ring name R-Truth. Killings worked for World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WW ...

, professional wrestler in the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

Dickie Noles Dickie Ray Noles (born November 19, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers and the Baltimore Orioles betw ...

, MLB pitcher and

1980 World Series The 1980 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 77th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion 1980 Philadelphia Phill ...

champion * L. J. McCray, NFL safety *

Pug Pearman William Andrew "Pug" Pearman (May 1, 1929 – December 19, 2004) was an American football player. A native of North Carolina, Pearman attended the University of Tennessee where he played at the tackle position for the Tennessee Volunteers footb ...

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tackle and college football first team All-American for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

Gregory Richardson Gregory Fitzpatrick Richardson (born 16 June 1982) is a Guyanese professional footballer who plays as a striker for GFF Elite League club Fruta Conquerors and the Guyana national team. Career Caribbean Richardson formerly played for Georget ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach * Bobby Thompson, MLB outfielder"Bobby Thompson Statistics"
The Baseball Cube. Retrieved 1 December 2018.

References

External links

* {{authority control Public high schools in North Carolina Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina