Class of 1951
A standout boxer during his years at City High, Gene Roberts went on to participate in the political arena during his professional life. Roberts graduated from City in 1951. While there, he played football, was a Golden Gloves boxing champion at 147 pounds, and as a junior, was a member of the state championship baseball team.
Reflecting on City High, he remembers it as a wonderful place to go to school. “Colonel Creed Bates, the principal then, could pick his people for the faculty from anywhere across the city,” Roberts relates. “Not everybody could do that. We had a great mix of people, who came from all over town to go to school at City. There were students from Signal Mountain, North Chattanooga, East Lake, Downtown and all over. It really was a unique atmosphere.”
Roberts remembers Coach George Mathis, who led the football program for a time, as a “great guy who got several of us, including George Connor who taught English, to enlist in the U.S. Naval Reserve right before the Korean War.” Currently involved locally in commercial real estate sales, Roberts fought with the navy during the Korean War, worked as a reporter with the Chattanooga News-Free Press, was a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and worked as public information officer for Mayor P.R. Olgiati. In 1971, he was elected Chattanooga’s Commissioner of Fire and Police, serving until 1979. In that year, he became head of the Tennessee Department of Safety, serving until 1982.
In 1983, Roberts was elected Mayor of Chattanooga, an office he held for the next 14 years. During his four terms as mayor, the redevelopment of Downtown Chattanooga began to take shape, and the former Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant site was purchased. At the time, he stated that the locale would become a significant industrial recruitment tool. Today, the Volkswagen assembly plant is under construction at the site now known as Enterprise South.
“A lot of people at City High made top grades,” he recalls, “but I can’t really say I was one of them! People from all around the city mingled together at the school, and I think it worked very well. My time at City was a wonderful experience.”
WILLIAM M. BARKER
Class of 1959
Justice William “Mickey” Barker served as commander of the City High ROTC regiment and was a member of the student council. He fondly remembers Colonel Bates, Dr. James Henry, who also served as principal, and longtime faculty member Katharine Pryor, who attended many of the reunions held by the class of 1959.
“We had about 1,460 or so students in the school when I was there, and about 450 people in our class had a big reunion a few months ago,” says Barker. He goes on to recall his time at City, “We had Sadie Hawkins Day in the spring, when they would put all the boys on the football field and all the girls would chase them down to get them to go to the dance. We had sock hops on Friday nights in the school gym. Everybody wore white socks and penny loafers, and we danced to Chuck Berry and The Platters.”
Justice Barker, who is currently Of Counsel with the Chattanooga law firm of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C., went on to serve in the U.S. Army and graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He served as a state Circuit Court judge from 1983 to 1995, a judge with the state Court of Criminal Appeals from 1995 to 1998, and as a justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1998 to 2009, holding the post of Chief Justice from 2005 to the end of his tenure.
“City was just a unique school that I don’t think can ever exist again,” he reflects. “We had people taking classes in woodworking, shop and auto mechanics along with people taking advanced placement courses and going to Harvard and Yale, and we all got along great.”
Justice Barker also remembers senior day, when the pending graduates dressed in outlandish costumes, some coming to school in chauffeured limousines, and hanging out at the Tally-Ho restaurant on Brainerd Road every Friday and Saturday night.
“The education was absolutely first rate and helped me learn to get along with people from all walks of life,” he says of his time at City. “I got a lot of leadership training through ROTC and student government. A number of outstanding people came out of that school.”
FRANK “SKIP” BOWMAN
Class of 1962
During a 38-year career with the U.S. Navy, Admiral Frank “Skip” Bowman bore an awesome responsibility for other men and women and for the navy’s nuclear program. He asserts that his chosen career, and particularly his time in submarines, was built on the foundation of numerous lessons learned while at City High.
A graduate of the class of 1962, Admiral Bowman went on to earn degrees from Duke University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His wife, Linda, was Miss City High in 1962. What made City so special for Admiral Bowman?
“In a word, people,” he responds. “There were events and things that are memorable, but fond memories are about the people, starting with ‘the Colonel,’ Colonel Creed Bates, our principal, guiding light and moral compass; then the amazing faculty who would make Hallmark weep with their caring, their involvement, their insistence on perfection and finally my fellow classmates who remain my best friends today, 47 years after we graduated.
“The coaches who had a profound influence on my life and career, Jimmy Duke, Ray Bussard, Pete Potter, are high on this list,” he continues. “These men, and women led by Mary Barker and Katharine Pryor, taught us values…and winning…and winning while losing. I took their lessons to sea with me and survived many a dark and stormy night because of their counsel.”
Bowman played football, baseball and basketball at City and served on the student council, participating in Army ROTC. He remembers a school whose academic achievements were unparalleled at the time and students and faculty who conducted themselves with dignity and decorum. The cultural indoctrination was remarkable and lasting, he says, and the school recognized success equally in all endeavors, including academics, sports, music, acting and auto mechanics.
“We cared for each other and still do,” he comments.
“Coach Duke’s affable, easy going approach to life and its challenges, I could never begin to mimic…but I tried,” Bowman reflects. “He was a role model for me when the stress was on and I needed to show calm and resolve on the outside. Coach Bussard’s style somehow came easier to me. When stress demanded confrontation and desire, I conjured up images of Coach Bussard and his fierce determination to give it all you and he had. His famous sign, now in my basement, ‘Let Me Fight Like a Champion Today,’ flashed back to me on so very many occasions when the chips were down at sea.”
MICHAEL ADAMS
Class of 1966
“I was gratified to be included and really enjoyed the weekend,” comments Dr. Michael Adams of his induction into the City High Hall of Fame. “Both the faculty and the institutional leadership made my experience at City outstanding.”
Since 1997, Dr. Adams has served as president of the University of Georgia. His academic career following graduation from City in 1966 includes degrees from David Lipscomb College and Ohio State University along with further studies at Oxford University. He also holds an academic appointment as a professor of speech communication at the University of Georgia.
“I learned a lot of things from Creed Bates at City High that apply in my job here at the University of Georgia every day,” remarks Dr. Adams. “I have three degrees from very good schools and did post-doctoral work and never had better teaching anywhere than I had at City. It was truly an eye opening experience for me, showing the best of what public education could be. City High was not diverse in the sense of ethnicity, but it was very diverse socio-economically. We had students from the best parts of North Chattanooga and all around the area, so that was very valuable.”
During Dr. Adams’ tenure at Georgia, he has steadily worked to achieve his pledge to make the university one of the premiere public research universities in the United States. For eight of the past 10 years, Georgia has in fact been recognized as one of the top 20 such universities by U.S. News & World Report. The university has also completed its Archway to Excellence financial campaign, achieving $654 million in gifts and pledges, substantially exceeding its goal of $500 million.
Dr. Adams’ father was in management with Kraft Foods for years, and the family relocated from time to time. While he was at City High, the family was to move once more, but Dr. Adams remained in Chattanooga to complete his senior year at City, living with family friends Jack and Mary Barker. Dr. Mary Barker was an English teacher at City, who also served as dean of academic affairs at Cleveland State Community College where the humanities building was dedicated in her honor in 1992.
“City prepared me for academic challenges anywhere,” remembers Dr. Adams, “because it taught me to think and also gave me terrific role models. When I lived with the Barkers, one of my teachers also became like family. While that was an unusual situation, it exemplified the level of care that we had. I believe that the people who came out of City High in the 1960s, if they applied themselves to any degree, were prepared to compete in the greater world anywhere, and I think we can yet do that again with public education. I remain a big believer in what public education
can be.”
BOB CORKER
Class of 1970
Senator Bob Corker served as student body president at City High, but contrary to what some may think, that term was not the beginning of his political aspirations.
“At the time, the office of student body president was not something you ran for,” he recalls. “I woke up one morning and that was that. I was not that good at public speaking and was incredibly nervous whenever I got up to do that. So, I can assure you that it was not the beginning for me politically.”
Corker played baseball and football at City High and went on to graduate from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and to start his own highly successful construction company. He served as Tennessee commissioner of finance and administration from 1994 to 1996 and as mayor of Chattanooga from 2001 to 2005. During his term as mayor, the ambitious 21st Century Redevelopment of the downtown riverfront was undertaken and successfully completed.
“There were students at City High from all over Chattanooga,” comments Senator Corker, “It was a very diverse and incredibly energetic group. Dr. Henry was a great principal, and Jimmy Duke had a great influence on my life. He was like a second father to me and took such a great interest in all his baseball players. He had doubleheaders going non-stop throughout the summers. Bobby Davis was the football coach, and he did a wonderful job.”
Senator Corker, a 136-pound fullback on Davis’s Dynamo squad during his senior year, also recalls the influence of Katharine Pryor and Jim Phifer.
“Today, the Chattanooga Center for Creative Arts is a wonderful school, and the kids are much more talented than we were,” Corker smiles. “The school had lost a little of its alumni feel for a while, and there is a group of people working to reestablish that and bring graduates back together. I want to reiterate that they are doing a great job at the school now, and it is wonderful to remember so much of what took place back when I was there.
“I learned a lot at City High about discipline and hard work through athletics,” he continues. “City was a special place then, and it is now.”
SHARON FANNING-OTIS
Class of 1971
“I lived in East Lake and went to City High so I could play in the band and play basketball,” remembers Sharon Fanning-Otis, who went on to play basketball and volleyball at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and then to coach the UTC Lady Mocs basketball team from 1976 to 1987. Fanning-Otis enjoyed a successful tenure at the university, during which her Lady Mocs team achieved a No. 19 national ranking and finished as runner-up in the National Women’s Invitational Tournament in 1984. After UTC, Fanning-Otis was the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky from 1987 to 1995. She is currently the head coach of the women’s basketball team at Mississippi State University. With more than 550 victories during her coaching career, she has guided the Lady Bulldogs to five appearances in the NCAA Tournament and five in the NWIT as well.
“High school was a very special time, and it was an outstanding opportunity for education – one of the best,” she remembers. “A.R. Casavant was one of the best band directors around, and I played clarinet. During the first summer out on the field, marching around in high tops in July, it was pretty difficult to point your toes.”
Fanning-Otis later concentrated on sports and served as a gym captain. “Jim Phifer and Jimmy Duke were wonderful coaches, and Coach Claude Catron was the one that opened doors for me to go to college,” she says. “These were great people to be around. Everybody was so special, and it was a classy place to be. I can recall when they began having National Merit Scholars and finalists, City was always represented. We are all products of the people we have been in contact with, and City High got me ready for the next step.”
ORLANDO LIGHTFOOT
Class of 1989
The all-time leading basketball scorer in the history of the University of Idaho and the Big Sky Conference, Orlando Lightfoot went on to play professional basketball in Europe for 13 seasons, earning numerous honors. He honed his skills on the court at City High as a member of the class of 1989. Currently a fleet manager for U.S. Xpress in Chattanooga, Lightfoot retired from basketball in 2007, and plays tennis several times a week at Warner Park with the Chattanooga Racqueteers.
“I have a lot of great memories at City, from playing in the Rupp Arena at the University of Kentucky to those much hyped battles with Brainerd’s Malcolm Mackey,” he reflects. “My greatest memory is the sub-state game at Jackson County one year. I was fouled with zero seconds on the clock, game tied. I needed to make one free throw to send us to the state tourney. I sank a free throw and also had 39 points and 16 rebounds.”
Lightfoot also remembers being a ninth grader, walking the halls with older high school kids, and being the only ninth grader allowed to eat lunch at the same table with the seniors.
“What made City High so special for me was its diversity,” he explains. “It seemed to be about a 50-50 ratio of white and black students, and we all got along. There was also good communication between the student body and the faculty. My time at City prepared me for adult life because it was so diverse. The faculty gave me a feeling of confidence and the sense that we, as students, could succeed if we prepared ourselves and stayed focused on whatever we wanted to become.”
Orlando’s wife, Staci, currently works at Chattanooga Center for the Creative Arts and feels the connection between the school today and its rich heritage.
“God blessed me with the opportunity to play professional basketball,” concludes Lightfoot. “I was able to take the talent God gave me, using basketball to get a college education and visit 25 countries. I learned a lot about so many different cultures and have been around many different people. Now, I am in a position to give everything I have learned back to today’s youth who are interested in pursuing basketball. Once a Dynamo, always a Dynamo!”
The legacy of City High is woven into the fabric of Chattanooga. Its graduates have shaped local, regional, national and world history. They have carried with them lessons learned and remembered. As adults they have experienced firsthand the merits of their outstanding education. When a group of dedicated alumni organized the Dynamic Decade reunion, it was only fitting to the school and its alumni that a hall of fame would be home to the rich tradition and memories of City High.