Pennington High School - Yearbook (Blountsville, AL)

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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.

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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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Birl Bryson Mr. Birl Bryson, the present principal of J. B. Pennington High School, is a native of Blount County and is a graduate of the school. Mr. Bryson was born September 26, 1923, to Arthur and Bertha Beasley Bryson on a farm three miles north of Blountsville. In 1937, after attending Mt. Hebron Elemen- tary School, he entered J. B. Pennington High School. Because of his father's ill health, he left school in 1941 to help on the family farm. On September 1, 1943, Mr. Bryson became a member of the United States Army. He spent six months at Camp Fanning, Texas, and was then sent to the Pacific Theater where he joined the 43rd Infantry Division. He served in New Zea- land and in the New Guinea and Phillipine Cam- paigns. After the war ended, he joined the First Cavalry Division in Tokyo, Japan, performing guard duty for six months in the Bank of Japan and at the Imperial Palace. Following his honorable discharge from the army on March 6, 1945, Mr. Bryson worked in various positions for eighteen months, trying to find a satisfactory vocation. During this time he realized his need for more education. He deter- mined to further his education and reentered J. B. Pennington High School. He completed his high school education and graduated in May, 1948. The following fall, he entered Jacksonville State College where he complete requirements for a B. S. Degree in Secondary Education in Decem- ber, 1951. On June 10, 1949, Mr. Bryson was married to Miss Margie Bryan of Cleveland, Ala. They are the parents of three children, Sammy, born Jan- uary 7, 1953g Susan, born August 2, 19585 and Jan, born July 17, 1965. After his graduation from Jacksonville State, Mr. Bryson came back to J. B. Pennington as a science teacher. He continued his education and in August 1962, received his M. A. from George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. On July 1, 1959, Mr. Bryson became principal of our high school following the retirement of Mr. Penning- ton. During Mr. Bryson's administration the school facilities have been enlarged and improved. An addition was made to the Vocational Agriculture Shop. The grounds were improved by closing the private drive on the north side of the building and converting this land to tennis courts, parking space, an athletic field. Additional parking space for busses was arranged behind the dormitory. A modern, well-equipped, well-lighted lunchroom was completed in January, 1968. Probably the most far-reaching development was the purchase of 20 acres of property on the west side of highway 231 by the School Improve- ment Corporation, which was organized in 1967. . 4..- M ff uf The Bryson Family I 67