Monroe County 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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

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 Monroeville,

Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: *Monroe County, Alabama * Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida *Monroe County, Georgia * Monroe County, Illinois * Monroe County, Indi ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

. It is part of the Monroe County School District.

History

Monroe County High School is the successor to a short-lived public school open to both blacks and whites built by the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

shortly after the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, and the Monroeville High School, housed in a small frame building erected by local citizens (on the site of the present day Monroeville Elementary School) in 1895. This building burned in 1903 and was not rebuilt. In 1907, the

State Legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

mandated a public high school in every

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

, stipulating that the value of the building must exceed $5,000, be placed on a lot with a minimum of five acres, and all school properties be deeded to the state. There were no provisions in this bill for the state to furnish any funds, and it was the responsibility of the local citizenry to raise the necessary capital. Erected on the former site of the defunct Monroeville High School, the original two-story brick building housed grades 7–12. The first Monroe County High School classes were begun in the fall of , and in that first year there was one graduate, Maybelle Broughton. Congressman John McDuffie delivered the commencement address This building was used as the high school until a new one was erected on York Street in 1936. At this time, some classes in the elementary school moved into the old facility and occupied the old building until it burned just prior to the opening bell on the morning of November 11, 1946. No students or staff were injured in the blaze. The second location of Monroe County High School was on York Street until 1978. The school was expanded multiple times to add more instructional space and facilities to the original two story building and gymnasium. After a new high school was built on Tiger Drive, the old high school was converted to Monroeville Junior High School. It is still in use as a junior high school for 6th through 8th grades.

Notable alumni

* Chris Booker, former MLB player (

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

) *

Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926February 19, 2016) was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee has received numerou ...

, author of ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...

'' * Tytus Howard, current tackle for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NR ...

References

External links

MCHS website
Public high schools in Alabama Schools in Monroe County, Alabama Educational institutions established in 1912 1912 establishments in Alabama Schools supported by the Freedmen's Bureau {{Alabama-school-stub