Chattanooga High School

Chattanooga High School was founded in 1874. Several locations and buildings were used until 1921, when City
finally moved into the building on East 3rd Street where we attended our three years of high school. City was located
there until 1963 when a new building was erected in North Chattanooga. You may read a little of City's history
and see pictures of all the buildings on the Internet by clicking here.

Chattanooga ~ the "Dynamo of Dixie"
Chattanooga High School ~ the "Dynamo of Chattanooga schools"

Our American fighting boys, many from our own school, were the dynamos which enabled the
"lights to go on again all over the world."

Because we were the first class to graduate after the end of THE WAR, this theme was used
throughout our senior annual, the 1946 Dynamo. Due to the paper shortage during THE WAR,
we were the first class in several years that did not have to be content with a shortened version of the Dynamo.
Special credit goes to Joe Fergus, editor-in-chief, and Bob Templeton, business manager,
for our unique and memorable annual. For the beautiful and appropriate art work,
credit goes to Charles Doughty, talented staff artist.

Girls from Class of 1946 from left to right:
Jean Polley, Doris Hurst, Barbara Miller ('47), Mary Adair House, the Cunningham twins - Jean and Jane,
Carolyn Hallmark, Dot Free and Bettye Huskins

.... and the boys from left to right:
Milton "Buddy" Varnell, Robert Kelly, Max Trotz, Leon Long, Tom Ling, one of the Reckard twins ... Jim or Charles,
Jimmy Hunt, Bob Staley, Bob Ellis

"When the Lights Go On Again All Over the World"
(Written by Eddie Seller, Sol Marcus, and Bennie Benjamin)

Dr. Annetta Trimble, Lt. Walter Wooten, Lt. Ted Atwood, Col. Fred Fox, Col. Creed F. Bates, our principal,
and Mrs. Elizabeth Dalton are shown at a tea given in honor of Col. Bates on his return to City. During Col. Bates' absence
while serving our country, Mr. Edgar K. Smith served as principal. Because the end of THE WAR came in the Summer
before we began our senior year, Col. Bates was able to return to City to be with us during our last year.

Our class officers ~ Bill Clift, president (all three years); Don Moore, treasurer;
Connally Smith, secretary; Jimmy Forrester, vice-president

The Girls' Glee Club, Miss Mary Ruth Hall, Director
Charlaine Cash is shown here as our accompanist.

Above is a scanned copy of the top half, first page of the last issue of the Maroon and White
for our senior year, dated May 10, 1946. (I have almost all copies
of our school paper for our three years.)

Editorial Staff
Joe Fergus, editor-in-chief; Arch Trimble, associate editor; Sara Jo Borisky, news editor;
Charlaine Cash, associate news editor; Celeste Martin, copy editor; Jerry Simpson, exchange editor;
Charles Doughty, staff artist.

Business Staff
Mary Adair House, business manager; Sam L. Trotz, circulation manager;
Keith Gilbert and Mary Hill, exchange managers.

We were small children during The Depression. We lived through a major
polio epidemic during our grammar school days when the schools closed
for a time because polio was so contagious.

We "remember Pearl Harbor," being in junior high school when Pearl Harbor
was bombed. The boys in our class were a little too young to go to war,
but we knew all about the Draft, War Bonds, ration books,
"black out" drills, scrap metal drives, shortages, daily news of THE WAR
on the radio and in our newspapers ..... and the Atomic Bomb.

We remember the jubilation at the end of World War II !!

We rode the bus or the streetcar to school. It was rare indeed in those days
for anyone to drive his own car. Because of the location of our school, few,
if any, lived close enough to walk.

We were the generation of bobby socks, oxford shoes, penny loafers,
juke boxes, jitterbugging and 78 RPM records. We had Frank Sinatra,
Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Doris Day and the Big Band music
of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Sammy Kaye and others; you could understand
all the words to our songs.

We wore skirts and sweaters (never a thought of wearing slacks to school
in those days). The boys wore their ROTC uniforms for drill
and study every day except Friday.

We were a patriotic generation; we were taught to obey and respect
our leaders and teachers. We had prayer and Bible reading in
our public schools.

From my earliest recollections, I always planned to attend City High School, 'though I was born and raised
in the community of Ridgedale, at the foot of Missionary Ridge, and lived a short walk from Central High School.
My mother was an alumnus of City. She was also a friend to Miss Arminda Smallwood, who later became
my English teacher and, I believe, was an influence in my decision to major in English in college.

Some very enjoyable times in my memory of high school days were those spent on the streetcar to and from school.
How I did love those rides and the good times with other students ! (I still have some of the tokens we used for fare.)
I got on the Vance streetcar at the end of the line, and quite a few classmates (not all from our class) boarded
along the way. The streetcar took us up Oak Street to U. C. We got off there, walked down the hill,
across the cemetery and right up to the front of the school. Most days, the ROTC boys from U. C.
were out marching and singing a song in cadence to keep time.

Left ... Left ...
I left my wife and 49 children in starving condition with nothing but gingerbread ...
Think I did right ... right ...
Right by my country, by gingos I had a good job and I
Left ... Left ...
I left my wife, etc., etc., repeating ad infinitum

I had attended East Side Junior High School, and only 13 of us went to City; not all graduated. I was very shy in those days,
knew few other students (so many had gone to junior high together) and hardly participated in any of the social life
of the school. My closest friends were those in my church and my neighborhood. I did not begin to get over my shyness
until dormitory life and my traveling days with the a cappella choir in college.

It is only natural here that I would emphasize the activities that I was most active in. These interests and activities,
of course, would be different for anyone writing about his own high school experience.

Personally, my two most enjoyable activities were the Girls' Glee Club and the Girls' Drill Squad. The Glee Club
afforded many opportunities for singing, such as school programs in the auditorium, commencement programs
and Stunt Night, which was always so much fun to me. I did enjoy the Glee Club immensely
as music was and is one of the most enjoyable parts of my life.

Even though I loved the Drill Squad, and marching at all the football games, I never did learn to appreciate
or understand the game ~ still don't. I just wanted us to win and, of course, cheered as hard as anyone ..... even as we
"froze to death" many times in our white skirts, white shirts, white sweater and little white beanie.
(Wish I could forget the score of the City-Central game that year.)

Can you still remember the smell of the science wing at school? Kind of like rotten eggs ..... sulfur, I believe.

Apparently it was not our senior year, but do you remember the year that banners appeared all over the walls,
in the halls and on the staircases ~ they said S G S C P. These banners appeared for awhile to get everyone talking
about what the initials stood for. Of course, it was a "play" on the popular advertisement of the day ~ L S M F T.
(I know you remember that one ~ "Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco.") We finally learned that S G S C P
stood for "Spring Green, Senior Class Play."

I know you remember senior English ~ it was either memorize 500 lines or "The Definition of a Gentleman."
I chose the 500 lines, feeling that would be easier than memorizing a narrative. Amazing how easy it seemed
to be in those days. I'd certainly hate to be faced with that chore now !! And yet, I still remember
many things I memorized in 1946 in Miss Smallwood's class.

One school activity I recall that I enjoyed so much was the annual Christmas party for the orphans. I know you
remember the time we came out after this occasion to be greeted with a beautiful white snow.

I still have almost every Maroon and White from our three years at City. They are truly a wealth of history
from our tenure, along with other memorabilia that I saved. I also have a book that Mother gave me,
History of Chattanooga High School, by Elizabeth Kelley Wade, published in 1974. This book was published
to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of our school.

Lastly, it was such a wonderful experience to visit our old school in 1991 when we met for the 45th reunion
of the Class of 1946. We had a continental breakfast and enjoyed seeing a few of our former teachers.
We enjoyed a tour of the building, and I remember thinking that it still seemed "big" to me. The scent of
the freshly-polished woodwork, including the lockers, still lingers with me. In my opinion, our old
school building looks like a high school should look, and I'm thankful to know it's in good repair
and still being used in a useful and distinguished way !!

To hear our Alma Mater, see the words and to view pictures
of the members of our 1946 senior class, CLICK HERE.

Our class has had many well-attended,
enjoyable reunions over the years,
highlighted by a wonderful 50th reunion in 1996.

Special thanks to ...

... for their inspiration and motivation and to Jerry Hale for her help and to James Tollett, their webmaster, for making our '46 logo.
You may click on the above banner to view their site.