Graduated from Central in 1965. Had the honor of being Mr. Central 1965. Started on the Central Basketball Team for three years and was a member of the Track Team in my senior year. Shared command with Bryant Millsaps of the Central JROTC unit in my senior year. Other activites at Central are documented in the 1963 -1965 Champions. Received an athletic scholarship and played Division I College Basketball for four years. When I graduated from Auburn in 1969, I was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army Adjutant General Corps and served 25 years on active duty, retiring in 1994. Some of the military awards I earned include the Legion of Merit, one Meritorious Service Medal for Achievement, six Meritorious Service Medals for Service, Joint Service Medal for Achievement, two Army Commendations Medals, and Viet Nam Service Medal. After retirement in 1994, I became a Real Estate Broker until my second retirement in 2010. I am passionate about Central History and am pleased to be Administrator of this Blog/Site.
It saddened me yesterday when I received the following message from Class of 1965 classmate and friend, John Ettien:
“Bobby, my Mom passed this week. She was a Drum Majorette at Central High, Class of 1937. My brother Jim, sister Loretta and wife Patti are all Central High grads.”
Rosa Jane Verhey Ettien passed from among us, but I expect the Central spirit instilled in her in the late 1930s is with us still. On behalf of all Central alumni, condolences to John, Jim, Loretta, and Patti.
I also learned today that Charlie Sedman (father is Class of 1941 graduate) is a second generation Centralite and began thinking there are probably many others.
Seems appropriate to capture this information in our efforts to preserve Central history. So, please comment if you are or know them.
On March 15, 2012, Greg Cantrell shared the following with me:
“My name is Greg Cantrell and beginning with the 2012-13 school year, I will be the new journalism teacher at Central High. Mr. King has agreed to reinstate the newspaper there and I will be transferring to CHS from Red Bank where our newspaper has won best in state for 2011 and also 2012.
I’m excited about reorganizing and re-establishing the Digest at Central and after a few internet searches, I came across your blog about the rich Central history. By starting the paper, which in fact will be an online news website instead of a newspaper, I hope to include as much alumni news and historical “looking back” news as I possibly can. I hope to gain the support of all CHS alumni. In fact, if our new Digest is to succeed, we’ll need the support of all the alumni — as well as the current student body — to help us get going by purchasing ads, submitting possible story ideas, and basically getting the word out that the Digest is back and needs everyone’s support.
Believe it or not, you are my first stop in getting connected with my new Purple Pounder friends after being a Lion for several years. While I’m not sure that Mr. King (the current principal) is quite ready to make the announcement that the Digest is back, I did want to share the good news with you and ask for your help getting this project going since your own websites look so professional and are continually updated. I’ve noticed that you have the CHS crest or seal on your website and I would love to have a copy of that for our new header, if you can assist us. For now, that’s my first (probably of many) request. I am certain I will be bugging you about older issues of the Digest later on.
I’m sure that we’ll be “all clear” to share the re-launch of the Digest very soon. Until then, I look forward to hopefully working with you and utilizing your love for CHS and its history.”
Since then Greg and I have been sharing e-mails in which I shared some ideas for stories and some recommendations of website/blog hosting.
Today I received the following from Greg:
“We’re all clear for the announcement. You may include my email as a contact. We’ll definitely be looking for alumni support and donations to make sure this project not only succeeds, but evolves into something the Central family can appreciate!
I’m saving your emails so that we will have plenty of story ideas for the future. At Red Bank we had an “alumni spotlight” section which took note of alums who did or are doing successful endeavors and I’m sure there’s a place in the Central Digest for the same kind of reporting.
I’ll be in touch with you later on. Until then, here’s hoping for a lot of alumni and community support.”
Greg Cantrell can be reached at: cantrell_g@hcde.org
Received the Adobe Acrobat X Pro software today from Buffy. This is the first contribution to the Preservation of Central History Fund (45-4405845) which has been set up to support preservation efforts such as this website. This software will contribute immensely to our preservation efforts.
Other alumni and interested parties my contribute by a check payable to Preservation of Central History Fund sent to Bob Johnson, 8909 180th Street Court East, Puyallup, WA 98375. Bob is a graduate of the Class of ’65.
Today Bobby Byrd confirmed receipt of payment at the Tennessee Historical Commission. Priority Mail envelope had been delayed because of the weather, so we were getting a little concerned-should have arrived last Wednesday or Thursday.
The Commission ordered the marker for arrival in Chattanooga in approximately 18 weeks.
Coordination is underway for the dedication ceremony in mid-to-late July.
On February 17, 2012, the Tennessee Historical Commission, unanimously approved our application to erect a State of Tennessee Historical Marker at 500 Dodds Avenue recognizing the historical significance of Chattanooga Central High School.
Coordination for a public ceremony August 4, 2012 to dedicate this memorial to our beloved school is underway.
As previously reported, the Monuments and Markers Committee of the Tennessee Historical Commission recommended minor changes to the text we submitted with the application. Those changes were approved by the Commissioners.
Thanks to the alumni who prepared and submitted the application, coordinated with the City of Chattanooga for permits to erect the marker, and donated the funds to pay for its production and installation.
The Central Digests of October 1, 8, and 15, 1949 detailed the selection process of the first homecoming queen to be crowned at halftime of the Central-Rossville game at Chamberlain Field on October 22, 1949. The Senior English classes nominated 8 contestants, then the student body selected 5 finalists, with the person getting the most votes crowned by the Alumni President (at that time Jerry Perry). Subsequent queens would be crowned by the previous year’s queen. Betty Bridges, Betty Drinnon, and Diane Haynes were eliminated by the student vote, leaving the top 5 – Evalynne Anderson, Hulene Huff, Geraldine Maxey, Shirley Sewell, Jeanne Watson – to appear on the field for the presentation, which was won by Shirley Sewell.
1949: Shirley Sewell
1950: Peggy Kistler
1951: Pat Williams
1952: Dot Wood
1953: Joy Schroeder
1954: Norma Jean Coulter
1955: Patty Rector
1956: Mary Ruth Neyman
1957: Linda Scruggs
1958: Ann Travis
1959: Carolyn Hale
1960: Donna Reed
1961: Jill Keef
1962: Judy Jackson
1963: Pam Piercy
1964: Janie Young
1965: Cheryl White
1966: Teri Tinker
1967: Martha Hollis
1968: Ginger Nye
1969: Jayne Arnold
1970: Karen Sue
1971: Vicky Thacker
1972: Debbie Hunt
1973: Robin Hall
1974: Annie Owen
1975: Cheryl Williams
1976: Robin Rozzell
1977: Kim Ellis
1978: Sheri Bankston
1979: Sherri Bradford
1980: Cathy Russell
1981: Nancy Lonas
1982: Emily Schaerer
1983: Tamye Yarbrough
1984: Denise Knowles
1985: Ava Kirby
1986: Kim Freezell
1987: Lorena Stitts
Note 1: Research by Charlie Sedman and Bob Johnson
Description: Article taken from The Chattanoogan.com Frawley Field and the Legendary Central High Purple Pounders by Harmon Jolley posted May 21, 2008
article_128352 Frawley Field and the Legendary Central High Purple Pounders by Harmon Jolley posted May 21, 2008
The new Frawley Field was one of several photographs in “Report of Hamilton County Schools, 1937/1938.” Click to enlarge. A reader recently asked me a question about the origin of the name of Frawley Field, which was the old Central High School football/baseball field. What a quest this turned out to be!
Let’s first review the historical setting of Central High School itself. In “A History of Hamilton County, Tennessee, “ Dr. James Livingood noted that the county education program began to move from the days of one-room, all-grades schools to the high school concept following Tennessee government’s funding of secondary education. Around 1902, Hixson, Sale Creek, Soddy, and Ridgedale (soon renamed Central High) acquired new high schools.
On January 3, 1908, Central High School was dedicated. At a cost of $72,000, Hamilton County had constructed the school on Dodds Avenue near McCallie Avenue. The location was at the time outside the city limits of Chattanooga, which operated a separate school system. However, Chattanooga residents were allowed to attend Central High as long as they provided their own transportation.
Class sizes of Central were initially relatively small in the early years. The graduating class in 1911 numbered only 65 students. However, by 1934, there were 1,730 students being taught by 38 teachers. Central High’s curriculum included a variety of the arts and sciences.
Even in its early years, the school chose purple as its primary school color. The Central High Digest was even printed in purple. The school fielded athletic teams before other high schools began to offer sports. The players who would be called the Purple Pounders needed an athletic field.
The book “Report of Hamilton County Schools 1937/1938” reported that funding of $30,008 for Frawley Field was included in a system-wide building program. Work started December 23, 1937 and the field was accepted on April 30, 1938.
But who was Frawley?
* I consulted the library’s inventory of Hamilton County Schools personnel booklets, and did not find a principal or teacher by that name. I did see that S. Dean Peterson was the team’s football coach in the late 1930’s. Mr. Petersen was later a Chattanooga City Commissioner of Education.
* I reviewed newspapers on microfilm from 1938, including the date in April when Frawley Field was completed as well as the September editions that covered the start of the football season. No Frawley was mentioned. However, I did note that September, 1938 had more coverage of baseball clubs in pennant races and University of Chattanooga Moccasin football than any other team. High school football received very little coverage. Central High had far-away teams on their schedule, since there were few local opponents other than Notre Dame.
* I perused the library’s newspaper clipping file on Central High School. There was lots of other interesting information, but no Frawley.
* I browsed the Chattanooga city directories of the era, and saw that there was a C.E. Frawley Furniture Company on Dodds Avenue. That lead also turned up empty, as I could not connect the business owner with the nearby school.
* I remembered that William Frawley, later a star on “I Love Lucy” and “My Three Sons,” was a vaudeville performer. Chattanooga had some vaudeville houses, so maybe William Frawley was in town and donated funds for a school athletic field. It was plausible because he loved sports – I read that he had it written into his “I Love Lucy” contract that he would be given time off if the New York Yankees were in the World Series. I kept the thought of this being William Frawley Field to myself, until now.
I put the research aside for a few days. Then, undaunted, I returned to the library to have one more look at the “Report on Hamilton County Schools, 1937/1938” which had mentioned Frawley Field. Just inside the cover of the book was a group photo of the Hamilton County Court, which had oversight responsibility for the school system. There was a new lead shown in the lower right corner – Fred Frawley, County Chief Clerk.
My next stop was a check of the library’s Local Obituaries link on its Web site. The passing of Fred Frawley was first reported in the December 3, 1940 Chattanooga Times. I read through the obituary, but still could not find mention of a connection to Frawley Field. I had to check one more possibility, that a subsequent printing of his obituary contained more information.
Eureka! In the announcement of Mr. Frawley’s funeral service, it was reported, “Members of the Cnetral High school band will form an honorary escort for the funeral. Mr. Frawley’s friendship to Central High school resulted in the naming of Frawley field in his honor.” Judge Will Cummings announced that the courthouse would be closed out of respect for Fred Frawley, who was a prominent local businessman and political leader. He had been purchasing agent since 1926, and likely was instrumental in the acquisition of land and building of Frawley Field.
THE LEGENDARY CENTRAL HIGH PURPLE POUNDERS
No article on Frawley Field would be complete without also mentioning the rich history of Central High School athletics. For that information, I called my uncle, Jack Jolley, a 1948 graduate of Central and authority on the Purple Pounders as well as the Tennessee Volunteers.
My uncle recalled Frawley Field, and said that it was reported at the time that it had been named for a coach. That is possibly correct, for Mr. Frawley may have served as a part-time coach or was at least on the sidelines encouraging his team.
By the time that my uncle attended Central, the school was playing many of its football games at Chamberlain Field on the University of Chattanooga campus. Many were sell-outs, such as game against its storied local rival, Chattanooga (City) High School. Uncle Jack still remembers the 81-6 victory over the City High Dynamos in 1945.
He recalled that teams from Memphis, Knoxville, and Birmingham often requested games on Central’s schedule. Central won several state championships. The Purple Pounders, led by many years by Coach E.B. “Red” Etter, included players who went on to outstanding college football careers. Ed Nobles (University of Chattanooga) and Bob McCoy (Georgia Tech) were known as the “Touchdown Twins.” Even players on the second squad were often given college scholarships.
Frawley Field also served as the baseball field of the Purple Pounders.
THE OLD CENTRAL HIGH AND FRAWLEY FIELD SITES TODAY
As early as 1955, studies were being made concerning relocating Central High School, which was still a Hamilton County school but physically located inside Chattanooga’s city limits after annexation. In 1957, some Central High alumni favored switching the school to the Chattanooga system, and having its name be attached to the new high school in Brainerd. Others favored a plan to move Central to the Glenwood community.
In the fall of 1969, Central High School opened at its present location on Highway 58. Considerable discussion and controversy took place over disposition of both the old school building and Frawley Field. Proposed uses for the school included relocating the library to it, as well as re-opening it as a part of the Chattanooga school system.
Many alumni waxed nostalgic as the former Central High building was eventually demolished, and the property became part of the McCallie School campus. Yellow bricks from old Central were offered to interested individuals, with my uncle being one such person. I remember that he called us from his relatively new out-of-town address, and asked us to be sure to get a few bricks for him.
As for Frawley Field, it is today the site of Parkridge Hospital.
While much is remembered and written about the old Central High School, let us not forget that the Central High students and teachers of today are also creating many positive memories to be shared in the future.
If you have memories of Central High or Frawley Field, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net. Also, anyone who would like to correspond with my uncle, Jack Jolley, about Central High or Tennessee Volunteers history may contact him at jolleyvol@charter.net.
May Day celebrations have been a part of America’s heritage since the first European settlers landed. There are many accounts of schools holding May Festivals; in the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh there is a large painting of a May Festival held in 1816 at a Raleigh Girl’s School. May Festivals in the Chattanooga area were popular well into the early 1900s, and several were held at the Memorial Auditorium after its opening in 1924.
Central’s first May Festival was instituted in 1925 as an annual finale of the new Girl’s Athletic Association program. Here is an excerpt from the 1925 Champion: “The Girl’s Athletic Association, under the sponsorship of Misses Anna Lee Marsh and Dorothy Bachtel, is the largest student organization in school. The first event of the 1924-25 calendar was the Christmas Festival presented by the Rhythm Class on December eighth. The second event was the intramural basketball tournament with eight color teams participating. Perhaps the greatest responsibility of the Association was the presentation of all its members in the May Fete, “The Farmer’s Garden Party,” which was presented under the direction of Miss Anna Lee Marsh, director of physical education. The May Queen was selected by the student body from the Association. Her identity was not revealed until the day of the fete. The Association was organized for the first time this year…”
The following year (1926) the Champion recorded: “..The May Day Festival was held on May the seventh and every girl taking gymnasium took a part. A gymnastic exhibition, consisting of military arching, calisthenics, and a track meet, was held in the early part of the afternoon. This was followed by the ‘The Dawn of the May,’ a beautiful pageant representing springtime in all its glory. Miss Elizabeth Whaling from the senior class was crowned queen of the May….”
Champions from 1927-67 were apparently issued too early to include events happening in May, including May Day celebrations, except that senior girls usually included participation in the May celebration on their senior resumes, and after 1932 some seniors indicated that they were a May Queen candidate. This is perhaps due to the May Queen candidates being narrowed to five before the student vote starting in 1932. The Central Digest thus is the only source for May Day news after 1926; unfortunately Digests before 1930 have disappeared from the Central High Library collection, so we have no information on May Day from 1927-1929. In 1930 the April 17 Digest reported tersely that Virginia Lowery had been selected May Queen. In 1931 the April 23 Digest reported that Mary Richards, a junior, was to be crowned on May 7 on the school lawn by Mary Alice Witt, who would play the role of Spring, and that Miss Richards would represent Central in the County Pageant to be held at the Memorial Auditorium.
In the fall of 1931 Sarah Hubbard was hired as the first full-time women’s athletics director. One of her innovations was to replace the Girl’s Athletic Association with a new hierarchy, called gym staff, to implement the various programs, including the May Day Celebration each year. And, to reward those staff, five seniors were selected by Ms. Hubbard as May Queen Candidates, and the Queen selected by a general student vote each April. Ms. Hubbard was well-schooled in publicity, as fairly detailed write-ups of May Day may be found in Digests after 1932, with the exception of 1935, when the last Digest for that year was apparently published on April 30.
When looking over these Digest articles, two curious variants in the celebration are revealed: (1) May Day was not always held in May; for whatever reason, a few celebrations were held in late April; (2) the venue varied according to the location and the weather; some were held in the front lawn, some during the 30s were held at Central Field (likely the athletic field used by Central at East Third Street before Frawley Field became available in 1938), the boy’s Gym was used in 1933, presumably because of weather, and in the mid-50s Patten Field on the McCallie campus hosted several May festivals when Frawley Field was unsuitable. From 1958 to 1969 the festival played out on the front lawn at 400 Dodds Avenue.
Finally in 1937 the Letterman’s Club got into the act by selecting 5 male escorts for the May Queen Candidates, one of whom would be elected May King by the student body. The May King title was never fully embraced, because the Digests in several instances did not report a May King. In 1968-69 printing technology allowed the Champions once again to report a May Queen, this time with photos of the event, but no May King was reported.
Herewith is my compilation of the Central High May Queens from 1925-1969, with escorts/Kings listed where reported:
I’m posting this information to amend erroneous and/or missing information in the “purple books” sponsored by the Alumni Association in 1994 and 2007. Maybe your parents or grandparents show up on these lists? Were there any 3rd generation Pounders? One of the more notable grads of 1909 was three-sport star Hawley Cushman, who returned a fumble for the only score in Central’s first football victory over City High and later started for John Heisman’s football and basketball teams at Georgia Tech. Horace Jones was a “ringer” recruited from Baylor, who pitched Central to an undefeated season in baseball, including a win over previously undefeated Baker-Himel of Knoxville for the unofficial East Tennessee Championship on May 24, 1909 (which was also graduation day).
The 35 members of the Class of 1909 per the May 24, 1909 Chattanooga Times:
I’ve been disappointed at how many errors occur in the two editions of the Central Alumni Directory. The list of grads after 1963 are only partial lists. But as I compared the graduation announcements in the Chattanooga Times, the seniors shown in the Champions, and the Alumni Directory listings, I became compelled to clean up the record. For starters I am going to list the early graduates, and eventually get to the rest, with one caveat: I have access only to those who graduated in the spring of each year, as announced in the local papers; any mid-term grads may not be accounted for.
By the way, the 1912 grads listing in the Alumni Directory is completely bogus; most of that list actually graduated in 1911 and some didn’t ever graduate, at least in the spring.
Central’s first senior class in May 1908 graduated 19 as follows:
William Edgar Barr
Paul Marshall Beane
Blanche Church
Orva Cleveland
Nora Cowan
Katiebel Darrah
Ethel Madge Gray
Edith Berry Iler
Charles Mason Love
Gertrude May Kelley
Ruby Inez Krichbaum
Mary Malinda Harris
Elsie Hayes
Collye Mae Poe
Mary Ella Terry
Florence Lee Shehee
Pauline McDonald Wallace
Charles Alan Ward
Mattie Drummond Ward
I’ve tracked most of these folks down and have short bios in preparation. The last of Central’s first senior class, Katiebel Darrah, the principal’s daughter, lived to be 98 years old, passing away in November 1989 in Nashville.
Central was in fact the first accredited high school (1907) in Hamilton County and was referred to as “Hamilton County High School” in the beginning. After Tyner opened in 1907 and Hixson in 1908 (followed by Soddy-Daisy and Sale Creek), Hamilton County High is then referred to as”Hamilton County Central High” then “Central High at Ridgedale”. After Ridgedale was annexed by Chattanooga in 1912, Central was most often called Chattanooga Central, although it was never a Chattanooga City School.
Preservation of Chattanooga Central History 