Mike Parker: Savannah High School reunion celebrates educational history
When the Savannah High School Alumni and Friends Association hosts its 23rd Biennial Reunion, it will celebrate the achievements of 18 graduating classes from 1952-1970 and former Savannah students who transferred and graduated from North Lenoir classes from 1971 forward.
The Association will hold its reunion from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1, beginning with a “meet and greet” from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. at the Community Council for the Arts in Kinston. The Community Council of the Arts will also host breakfast at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 31 and the Black & Gold Banquet and Dance from 6:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 1, attendees will gather at 9 a.m. for a worship service at Savannah FWB Church. The group will wrap up its reunion with a picnic at 3 p.m. at the Georgia Battle Center.
In 1915, schools for disenfranchised students of color began popping up across the South and much of the country. The first such school in Lenoir County appeared next door to the Savannah Free Will Baptist Church, so it bore the appropriate name - Savannah.
When Savannah opened, the school initially housed students from grades one through seven. Later, the school moved to what became Savannah High School. In 1950, Lenoir County began building a bigger and better school building for all students. The new structure to house Savannah High was a two-story brick structure that featured 11 classrooms and provided facilities for an agricultural shop, a home economics lab, and a cafeteria.
Savannah became a union school for African American students in 1952, housing grades one through 12. Rufus L. Flanagan was the school’s only principal from 1952 until 1970. As the school population expanded, so did the school. In 1953, the county constructed a single-story building with 17. In 1956, the county added four more classrooms and a gymnasium. In 1965, the county added a metal building that offered nine additional classrooms. Savannah also had four mobile units to help alleviate overcrowding for a while. The last class to graduate from Savannah High School was the class of 1970.
In 1971, Lenoir County reorganized its school system and desegregated all the county schools. The former Savannah High School became Savannah Junior High, housing grades six through nine. Rufus Flanagan was still at the helm. In 1972, the sixth grades were split between Contentnea and Banks. When Mr. Flanagan retired, Jim Henry Jones became the Savannah Junior High principal, where he served from 1972 through 1981.
In 1981, the county reorganized by adopting the middle school concept, so ninth graders moved to North Lenoir High School, and sixth graders from Contentnea and Banks moved to Savannah.
After 60 years of service, the county decided the time had come to replace the old Savannah structure. The county sold the campus to Hugo Salvage Company and built the new Contentnea-Savannah Middle School on Ferrell Road.
However, the new facility did not erase the memories so many former Savannah students had about their school. A group of alumni joined forces to organize a whole-school reunion. In 1980, what has become the Savannah High School Alumni and Friends Association held its first reunion. The reunion’s theme was: “A Decade of Renewing Friendships and Acquaintances.”
Words from the 2014 reunion program still capture their spirit today:
“Though buildings, names, our age and looks have all changed, alumni hearts have not. The opening words of our alma mater, ‘How we love, this dear school…,” still reveal how graduates feel about Savannah High School. For that reason, despite any future changes, the spirit of Savannah High School Alumni and Friends will live on.”
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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