Pennington High School - Yearbook (Blountsville, AL)

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James Archibald Bradford Lovett First President Of Blount College James Archibald Bradford Lovett James Archibald Bradford Lovett was born March 3, 1848, in Winston County. He was the son of Abel Lovett, Jr. and Mary CHardwickJ Lovett, who lived near Shelby. Abel, a former native of Georgia, was the grandson of Thomas Lovett, of Georgia, who was of Scotch descent. Mary was the daughter of James and Violetta fElderJ Hardwick who lived in Georgia. He was a former member of the Alabama legislature for several years. His father came from England. James Lovett was educated at Ashville and at the age of 15 ran away from school to enter C. S. Army. He was made drummer boy in the fifty-eight Alabama Regiment, Co. G., under Cap- tain A. B. Vandergrift. After two months' service he was captured in June 1863 and held prisoner at Camp Chase and at Fort Delaware until the close of the war. After the war, he Worked his way through the theological department of the Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. He received the degree of A. M. from the college at Winchester, Tennessee. He joined the ministry of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and was pastor of churches at Huntsville, Alabama, Win- chester, Tennessee and Beech Grove, Tennessee. After giving up the ministry because of throat trouble, he entered the profession of teaching. In 1882 he organized the Huntsville grade schools and later was superintendent of the city schools of Huntsville and superintendent of education of Madison County. He was at one time secretary of the Southern Interstate Cotton Convention and was appointed on a committee to visit President Theodore Rosevelt in the interest of the expan- sion of the cotton market. He was married September 2, 1866, to Frances Priscilla, daughter of William and Ellen Gilbert who lived in Highland, Shelby County. Their chil- dren were, Edward Goode Cdeceasedj g Dr. James Marion fwho married Emma Mae Baker, of Huntsvillej 5 Oliver Nichols, of Delavan, Illinois, Mary Eleanor, of Bessemer, Dr. William Abel Cmarried to Frannie Kemp Dennis, of Birming- hamj 5 Richard Beard fdeceasedl 5 and Susie Mae fdeceasedj. In 1889 Lovett was elected to the presidency of Blount College. He established Spring Lake Col- lege at Springville and later, at Bessemer, the Montezuma University, which has been destroyed by fire. He was twice elected president of the Ninth District Agricultural School, which re- placed Blount College after its destruction by fire. He was one of the founders of the Birming- ham Dental School in 1893 and of the Birming- ham Medical College in 1894. In the former, he was professor of chemistry and metallurgy and in the latter, of chemistry and toxicology. About 1886 he established an educational journal THE TEACHER A TWORK in Huntsville. He was a Democrat, a Mason and a member of Camp William Rose McAdory of Confederate Veterans. He died October 19, 1910, at Bessemer. 1. HISTORY OF ALABAMA AND DICTIONARY OF ALABAMA BIOGRAPHY, Thomas M. Owen Vol. 4-1921 4 .pr 1' 1 l X., all E- kp - Per Aspera Astra I 65

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16 Honors Every student who attains a grade of ninety- five per cent in scholarship will have his or her name placed on the Honor Roll and will be awarded a Highest Distinction Certificate on Commencement day. Every student who attains a grade of ninety percent in scholarship shall be awarded a Dis- tinction Certificate on commencement day. No student who has received more than twenty-five demerits for the time in attendance shall receive Distinction or Highest Distinction Certificate. Those pupils whose records show them to be perfect in attendance shall be awarded an At- tendance Certificate on commencement day. Those pupils who receive no demerits for the time for attendance shall be awarded a Deport- ment Certificate on commencement day. The three pupils in the Senior class and the five pupils in the Junior class who make the highest average in scholarship and deportment for the year shall be permitted to represent their classes during the commencement. 4 Theme Every applicant for a diploma is required to Write a theme on some subject selected by mem- bers of the faculty. Extra Departments Strong courses under competent teachers are given in piano, voice, and expression. Confort- able rooms are provided for these departments in the main school building. THE SOUTHERN DEMOCRAT November 10, 1932

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John Burton Pennington John Burton Pennington, principal of J. B. Pennington High School, at Blountsville, Ala- bama, from 1917 to 1959, ranked as one of Ala- bama's outstanding educators. Indeed, education and school were the focal points of his life and that of his family. The Pennington family moved to Lamar County, Alabama, from South Carolina where they had been farmers. It was here that John Burton Pennington was born to John Burton, Sr. and Martha Holly Pennington. These industrious parents instilled in their eight children the need for learning, and of the four boys and four girls in the family, six chose to go to college. The par- ents continued to exert a great influence over the lives of their children, even though Martha Pen- nington died in 1912 and her husband in 1920. The young John Burton Pennington received his elementary education at Vernon, Alabama, and at other rural schools in Lamar County. Upon completion of elementary school, he entered high school at the Sixth District Agricultural School at Hamilton, Alabama, where he graduated in 1910. After graduation from high school, he enrolled at Alabama Polytechnic Institute fnow Auburn Universityl. While attending college, he worked to help pay his expenses, but he always main- tained a high scholastic average. He graduated from Auburn with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in chemistry. It was in 1913 that John Burton Pennington entered the teaching profession. His first employ- ment was at the Secondary Agricultural School at Albertville, Alabama. Among his many duties there one was the teaching of agriculture. As a result of his outstanding work at this school, in 1917 he was asked by the state superintendent of education to become principal of the State Secondary Agricultural School at Blountsville, Alabama. In 1915 Mr. J. B. Pennington married Florice Lorene Wade, of Walker County. The young cou- ple moved to Blountsville in 1917, and he began to work toward providing an institution which would contribute more and more to the students and the communities it served. The Penningtons 166 were the parents of three children. One died in infancy, the other two, Martha Ruth and John Burton, Jr., grew up in Blountsville where their parents continued to work in the school and com- munity for forty-two years, Mr. Pennington as principal and Mrs. Pennington as librarian. Martha Ruth married Phillip Lyon Healy from up-state New York. They make their home in Sanborn, New York. They have two children, John Phillip Healy and Patricia Healy Pynn. Always eager to learn more, Mr. Pennington did post graduate study at several colleges in- cluing, Auburn University, the University of Peabody College for Teachers where he received a Master of Arts degree in 1931. During Mr. Pennington's year at Blountsville, there were many challenges which confronted him, not the least of which was the task of re- building the school after it was twice destroyed by fire. When the State Secondary Agricultural School was made into a county high school, many felt it was fitting for the school to bear the name of the man who had worked so long and hard for its betterment. In 1941 a resolution was passed to change the name of the high school at Blounts- ville to J. B. Pennington High School. Upon the Pennington's retirement in 1959, the faculty, student body, former students, and friends honored them with a day of appreciation. Many former students and friends showed their affection for the couple by attending the pro- grams held in their honor. Although education was a prime interest of John B. Pennington, it was by no means his only interest. He was a member of the Board of Stew- ards of the Blountsville Methodist Church, and a member of the Alpha Tau Alpha and Phi Delta Kappa fraternities. He was also a Mason and a member of Zamora Temple of the Shrine in Bir- mingham. Mr. Pennington was instrumental in the char- tering of the Bank of Blountsville and was for years a member of its board of directors. At the time of this death on July 15, 1962, he was chair- man of the board of directors.