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
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
, that operated from 1910 to 1951, enrolling grades 10 to 12. Its building is a contributing property in the
Emory Place Historic District
The Emory Place Historic District is a historic district in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, located just north of the city's downtown area. The district consists of several commercial, residential, religious, and public buildings that deve ...
, which is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. The building was more recently used for adult education programs offered by
Knox County Schools
Knox County Schools is the school district that operates all public schools in Knox County, Tennessee.
History
Before the 1987–1988 school year, the city of Knoxville and Knox County operated separate school districts. In that year the two ...
The Knoxville High School building, located on East Fifth Avenue in Knoxville, was completed in 1910, enrolling male and female students who had previously attended separate high schools. W. J. Barton was the school's first principal. W. E. Evans served as principal from 1917 until the school closed in 1951. Enrollment grew to just over 2,000 in the early 1920s and reached a peak of about 2,300 around the beginning of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
The school was known for many years as a school sports powerhouse, winning a total of 13 Tennessee state championships and six Southern championships in football, as well as national championships in 1930 and 1937.
By 1948, the building had become inadequate, and city schools Superintendent Tom Prince warned that the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools was threatening to strip Knoxville High's accreditation. In response, the city built three new schools: Fulton High School, West High School, East High School, and made improvements to South High School and Austin High. Knoxville High closed in 1951.
After the school was closed, the city school district used the building for administrative offices. Following consolidation of the city and county schools, Knox County Schools has used the building for adult education.
Building
The original Knoxville High School building was designed in a
classical revival
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
style by Knoxville
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Albert Baumann Sr., who also designed the Knoxville Post Office and Federal Building, the Andrew Johnson Hotel, and the Cherokee Country Club, as well as some of the city's early-20th-century Victorian homes. The building was expanded in both 1914 and 1920 to accommodate increased enrollment.
The building is included in the Emory Place Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 10, 1994. Knox Heritage, a local
historic preservation
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...
organization, included it on its 2010 "Fragile Fifteen" list of endangered historic properties due to concerns about its ongoing maintenance. A
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
monument, erected in 1921, stands on the school's front lawn.
Notable alumni
Notable people who attended Knoxville High School include the following:
* James Agee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ''
A Death in the Family
''A Death in the Family'' is an autobiographical novel by author James Agee, set in Knoxville, Tennessee. He began writing it in 1948, but it was not quite complete when he died in 1955 (with reputedly many portions having been written in the hom ...
Tommy Bartlett
Thomson "Tommy" Bartlett (July 11, 1914 – September 6, 1998) was an American showman and entertainment mogul from Wisconsin. He is most often associated with the water skiing thrill show based in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, known as Tommy Bartl ...
, collegiate athlete and coach in both basketball and tennis
* Edward Boling, president of the
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
from 1970 to 1986
*
Harvey Broome
Harvey Benjamin Broome (July 15, 1902 – March 8, 1968) was an American lawyer, writer and conservationist. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Broome was a founding member of The Wilderness Society, for which he served as president from 1957 un ...
, lawyer who helped to found the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, w ...
Clarence Brown
Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director.
Early life
Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when he ...
, film director
*
Mary Costa
Mary Costa (born April 5, 1930) is an American retired actress and singer. Her most notable film credit is providing the voice of Princess Aurora in the 1959 Disney animated film ''Sleeping Beauty'', of which she is the last surviving original vo ...
, professional opera singer and actress, who is best known for providing the voice of Princess Aurora in Walt Disney's
Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)
''Sleeping Beauty'' is a 1959 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney based on the 1697 story "Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault. The 16th Disney animated feature film, it was released to theaters on January 29, 1959, by ...
.
*
Jerome Courtland
Jerome Courtland (December 27, 1926 – March 1, 2012) was an American actor, director and producer. He acted in films in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and in television in the 1950s and 1960s. Courtland also appeared on Broadway in the musical '' ...
, actor who starred in several Walt Disney films and shows
*
John Cullum
John Cullum (born circa 1930) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in many stage musicals and dramas, including '' Shenandoah'' (1975) and '' On the Twentieth Century'' (1978), winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Mu ...
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
who as a POW saved more than 200 Jewish American soldiers
* Norman C. Gaddis,
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
*
Guilford Glazer
Guilford Glazer (July 17, 1921 – December 23, 2014) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist.
Early life
Glazer was born to a Jewish immigrant familyDavid Madden, novelist.
* Robert Monroe,
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
vice admiral who commanded the Atlantic fleet
*
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...
, award-winning actress
* Sara O'Meara, actress and founder of the organization
Childhelp
Childhelp is a US non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse. Founded in 1959 as International Orphans, Inc. by Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, Childhelp is one of the largest non-profit child abuse prevent ...
Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Collegi ...
football and basketball
*
Maurice F. Weisner
Maurice Franklin Weisner (November 20, 1917October 15, 2006) was a four-star admiral of the United States Navy who served as Vice Chief of Naval Operations from 1972 to 1973; commander in chief, United States Pacific Fleet from 1973 to 1976; and ...
, 4-star Admiral, Commander-in-Chief U.S. Pacific Forces