50 years of history
was assembled in 1961 . . .

The following was excerpted from the
1961 Warrior with some minor edits.
A good start to documenting the history of Central High School, it is our hope that the Class of 1955 can further contribute to this historical record.

History of Memphis Central High School
Memphis High School, built in 1897 on Poplar Avenue and at present housing the Memphis Board of Education, adequately met the educational demands of Memphis for a decade. Then the rapidly growing population of the city made obvious the need for larger and better high school facilities.

In 1908, the city purchased from the family of John T. Overton thirteen acres of land extending from Raleigh Avenue (now South Bellevue) to Cleveland and from Overton Street (now Linden Avenue) to an alley parallel to and north of Peabody Avenue.By 1909 construction on a modern, well-equipped high school had begun, and the school year 1911-1912 began in the new building,

September 18, 1911
Memphis' new Central High School opens!

Central High School. Students from all parts of the city began their studies here under the principalship of Mr. N. M. Williams.

From 1918 to 1946, Mr. Charles P. Jester served as principal of Central. By 1918, Central was rapidly reaching her maximum capacity of students.When the number reached twenty-four hundred annually, two temporary buildings of four units each and two additional rooms over the shop were built.When these did not ease the situation, Central's ninth grade was moved temporarily to Jefferson Street School. Finally construction of other high schools was begun to accommodate the overflow.When the first of these schools were built, South Side in 1923 and Tech in 1929, the competition they offered Central served to spur the Warriors on to accomplish more than was thought possible in preceding years. These years were history making, as students with spirit high organized clubs, studied to receive more scholarships than any other Southern school, and won innumerable athletic trophies.

In February, 1934, to meet the increased demand for athletic provisions, the City of Memphis built the E. H. Crump Stadium on the spacious ground of Central.  A major part of her thirteen acres were relinquished as Central lost a practice field, tennis courts, and beautiful landscaping so painstakingly done by the Garden Club.  

School Closed Only Twice
According to our sources, Central has only been closed two times in its history – for a month in 1918 because of the influenza epidemic, the school was converted to a hospital and many teachers served as Red Cross volunteers. Again, in February of 1937 there was a great flood which closed Central for two weeks. The school became a refugee camp, all desks were removed and over 1100 cots were installed. Both students and teachers assisted in caring for those whose homes were destroyed in the flood.

For Years, the Memphis High School Alumni Association presented Scholarships to deserving high school graduates. Miss Eleanor Richardson, on coming to Central in 1924, presented the idea of establishing Central's own scholarship fund.  Since books were not furnished by the school, students were asked to donate at the end of the year at least one of their school books to the "Bookstore."  Under the chairmanship of Miss Richardson, and. later Miss Keith and Miss McGrath, profits from the sale of these books and other school supplies increased each year, and the number of scholarships increased proportionately. In 1928, under the chairmanship of Miss Elizabeth Horton, the bookstore was incorporated by the state and granted a charter.  In 1929, a loan system was instituted through which Central graduates who had completed a year of college work could receive college loans. In 1960, thirteen scholarships were granted.

The Warrior – both newspaper and yearbook – has for fifty years accurately recorded Central's history. In 1911 enthusiastic journalists produced Central's first publication, "The Bulletin."  This small magazine, containing literary contributions from the students, jokes, and editorials, later became the "Hi Standard," which also published reports of homerooms, athletics, and classroom activities.  By 1925, the "Hi Standard" had been replaced by a four-page newspaper called the "Warrior."  The February and June graduating classes each published a hardback yearbook of the same name. This publication, however, was published on such a tipsy financial foundation, that during the depression it had to give way to a paperback Senior Edition published annually.  It was only after the war years of the forties that we were able to expand and, through new printing methods, produce the larger, more comprehensive "Warrior" of today. 

Warrior Publications have captured in print all of Central's accomplishments, progress, and ambitions. In 1961 they reveal Central standing even greater than in 1911.

Sports for a Half Century!  Major sports, minor sports! Almost all have existed at Central at one time or another. But let's begin when Central did...1911. Here we find football, baseball, and boys' and girls' basketball dominating the sports scene. The small football squad of Central, then called "High," with no city teams to play, opposed such teams as the University of Mississippi, and the University of Tennessee.  "Old Hi's" team was often outweighed, but this lack of avoirdupois was made up for in part by pluck and speed. In the winter of 1912, Coach Sullivan organized the "H" Club with one of its avowed purposes to "get 'H' men who had stopped school at the end of the athletic season to return to school."  The following year, the .first football banquet was held at the home of the captain, where lettermen and the new football captains were announced. “High's” first boys' basketball team also played out-of-town teams such as Castle Heights, Jackson, Tennessee, YMCA, and Cumberland University.

Progressing to the Twenties, we find the boys' basketball team playing its first year in the scholastic league, in which MUS, Tech, and CBC were also participants. The girls' basketball team defended and kept their scholastic title in '21-22.  During those years, "Old Hi's football team fought it out on the gridiron at Russwood), with such teams as Tunica, Mississippi; Columbia, Tennessee; and Wakefield, Missouri, as well as the teams of high schools recently founded in Memphis. In '23 a mascot, a turtle dubbed "Asthma," was presented to the football team.