Albany High School - Thronateeska Yearbook (Albany, GA)

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HAROLD E. McNABB: An Albany Legend Over the years, one name has become synonymous with sports not only j at Albany High School but also at every school in Dougherty County. He ! is a legend at Albany High and in Dougherty County. He is Harold Eugene McNabb--Mr. Mac. Mr. Mac was born in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee in Unicoi I County. After graduating from Carson-Newman College with an out-i standing athletic record and coaching a year at his own high school in Er-i win, Tennessee, he accepted a possition on Lake Russell’s coaching staff j at Mercer University in Macon. He was there for three years and obtained his Master’s Degree while there. It was then in 1931 that Mr. Mac came to Albany High as head football coach, and his outstanding ability as a coach and leader of young men is indicated in the records he compiled. In his first year, his Albany High team was 7-2, and his last team in 1943 beat Griffin 7-0 in winning the j state title. In his 13 years of coaching, his record was a phenomenal 113 wins, 20 losses, and 6 ties. Six of his teams (1935, ’36, ’38, ’39, ’42, ’43) were in the South Georgia Playoffs, and three of his teams (1939,’42, ’43) made it to the state finals, winning the state championship in 1939 and again in 1943, his last year as head coach. From high school coach, Mr. Mac moved to junior high principal at Albany Junior High. He then served three and a half years in the Coast Guard as a reserve officer on active duty, and then returned to Albany High. As Dougherty County grew, so did Mr. Mac’s job, and he became the Director of High Schools until his retirement in 1971. Mr. Mac’s honors and activities are as impressive as his coaching record. Among them are: President, Georgia Education Association: President (organizer and charter member), Georgia Coaches Association; President, 2nd District Georgia High School Association; President, Albany Community Council; Member, National Association of Secondary Schools (Advisory Council, three terms); President (two terms), Georgia High School Principals Association; President (charter member), Albany Executive Club; District Chairman, Chehaw Council Boy Scouts of America; President, Nuclear Advisory Committee, State of Georgia; Member, Georgia Accrediting Commission. But perhaps his most prestigious honor from the work he loved so much was his induction into the Georgia Prep School Hall of Fame and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, now called the Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame, in 1957. Dougherty County gained much from Mr. Mac’s presence here, for he has truly become an Albany legend. Mr. Mac enjoys a dance with Ann Rainey. 22 History

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AHS parking lot-1962-63 White Christmas has long been a tradition at AHS. i rincipal B. D. Lee entered the army in 1§41 and was replaced at Albany High School during the war years by R. E. Beck and J. J. Cordell. When Major Lee returned as principal of Albany High School in September, 1945, he discovered many changes had occurred during his absence. For instance, he found that he was acquainted with only three of the 25 teachers in the school at that time, showing the tremendous turnover of the faculty during the war years. B. D. Lee remained as principal of Albany High School until the spring of 1947. Previous to 1947, it was possible to complete only eleven grades in the Albany school system. At this time, when a student reached the eighth grade, he was considered a freshman. In 1947, another grade was added at the eighth-grade level, thus making the Albany schools a twelve-grade system with the freshman class beginning in the ninth grade. When Lee returned from the war, J. J. Cordell, then serving as principal of Albany High School, left Albany and went to Griffin, Georgia. Cordell returned to Albany in 1947 as assistant superintendent and became superintendent of education in 1948. He remained in this position until his retirement in 1972. History 21

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Hollis Stanford, Harold McNabb, and Paul Robertson discuss education. Mr. Mac shows Indian spirit. Jackie Bierman assists Mr. Mac. .E. McNabb replaced B. D. Lee as principal of Albany High School in the 1947-48 school year. Paul Robertson succeeded McNabb as principal of Albany Junior High. Mr. McNabb remained at Albany High School until 1970. From 1962-1970 he served as both principal of Albany High and Director of High Schools. He served as Director of High Schools in 1070-1071 In 1951, the city school system and the county school system were merged through a legislative act forming the present Dougherty County School System. When the two systems were combined, R. H. Warren, III was county school superintendent. Mr. J. J. Cordell, Superintendent of the City School System at that time, served as the superintendent of the combined systems. This legislative act specified that the Board of Education of Dougherty County should consist of seven members who at the time of their appointments had been bona fide residents of Dougherty County for at least four years. Two members were to be appointed by the Board of City Commissioners of the City of Albany; two members to be appointed by the Board of County Commissioners of Dougherty County; two members by the Grand Jury of Dougherty County; and the six members appointed as aforesaid were to elect a seventh member by a majority vote. History 23