South High School (Utah)
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40°44′07″N 111°53′15″W / 40.73528°N 111.88750°W
South High School was a
Beginnings
In 1928 the Salt Lake school district decided to build a new high school to accommodate the increasing population of high school age children. The Great Depression put a hold on these plans, but when it was learned that the LDS High School, a private school with about 1,000 students, was to close in 1931, the plan was revived. The South High School building was constructed in 1929-1931 on the site of the "Original Pioneer Nursery" established by John Chamberlain. Land was surveyed on June 16, 1930, and ground was first broken on June 30, 1930. The edifice was erected in the record time of fourteen months at an estimated cost of $1.5 million.[3] South High school opened its doors in the fall of 1931 (for the class of 1932).
The high school was built with many
School mascot
The mascot for South High School was a Bear Cub, and South High students were usually referred to as Cubs. The moniker was given when a local newspaper article about Dr. Devoe Woolf, South High's principal at the time, metaphorically referenced the South High students as his "Woolf Cubs", alluding to the newness of the school. It was not long before the mascot was a Bear Cub. Some of the sports uniforms worn by South High teams, especially by baseball teams, used designs similar to those found on the
Student body
South High had normal enrollment in its early years, but saw significantly increased numbers in the 1950s and early 1960s, so much so that a major expansion was completed in the early 1960s, which included a large new gym, swimming pool, cafeteria and library.
From 1931 until the end of the '74-'75 school year South High facilitated grade 10 through 12. Starting in the fall of 1975, as part of a district-wide change, South High shifted to also include grade 9.
More than 36,000 students graduated from South High School between 1931 and 1988.[4]
South High students largely came from
Sports
South High won the following men's state championships:
Basketball
- 1950, 1957
Baseball
- 1944, 1946, 1950, 1955, 1974
Cross country
- 1977
Track
- 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1966, 1968, 1978
South was in class 4A, the top tier of Utah high school sports, through 1977. Afterwards it was demoted to 3A due to dwindling enrollment numbers.
Released time and religion
Like most other Utah public high schools, South High gave its students the option of taking a period during the school day called
LDS Church President Harold B. Lee was considered the very first South High Seminary teacher in 1932. For a time Gordon B. Hinckley, also an LDS church president, taught at the South High Seminary.[5]
Closure and reopening
The somewhat humble economic status of the South High geographic area and the cosmopolitan nature of the school in an otherwise ethnically monolithic culture may have been the factor that led to the closure of South High due to declining enrollment in all Salt Lake City high schools. At the time of closure, two high schools,
South High was open continuously until its closure as a high school with the graduating class of 1988. In 1992, after several years of renovation, conversion and modification, South High was reopened as Salt Lake Community College's South City campus.
A room near the main entrance to the South City campus is reserved exclusively for the South High Alumni Association and its associated
Principals, 1931-1988
- DeVoe Woolf, 1931–1948
- Ralph V. Backman, 1948–1969
- Douglas F. Williams, 1969–1975
- LaVar L. Sorensen, 1975–1988
Notable alumni
- H. David Burton, class of 1956, former Presiding Bishop of the LDS church
- Fred Gehrke, class of 1935, professional football player, credited with designing the St. Louis Rams football helmet
- W. Dan Hausel, class of 1967, hall of fame martial artist; grandmaster of Shorin-Ryu Karate; author of nearly 600 books and articles on geology and gemstones
- Paul Elden Kingston, student body president at South High, leader of the Davis County Cooperative Society[6]
- Alfred Pupunu, part of the final South High class (1988), professional football player, appeared in Super Bowl XXIX
- Barbara B. Smith, class of 1940, former President of the Relief Society (women's organization in the LDS Church)
- Mac Speedie, class of 1938, professional football player
- biathletein the 1964 and 1968 games.
- Dwan J. Young, class of 1948, former LDS children's group (Primary) leader and decorated for her promotion of the cub scout program
- Thomas Ypsilantis, class of 1945, co-discovered the antiproton
- Stanley J. Watts, class of 1980, creator of bronze sculptures
- Ted Wilson, class of 1957, former mayor of Salt Lake City
- Hartt Wixom, class of 1951, outdoors writer and LDS historian[7][8]
- Terry Lee Williams, first African American to serve in the Utah State Senate
- Warner P. Woodworth, class of 1960, humanitarian
See also
References
- ^ "About Our School - Innovations Early College High School". innovations.slcschools.org. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
- ^ "Career and Technical Education (CTE) - Salt Lake City School District". www.slcschools.org. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
- ^ Utah government agency article on South High School. Retrieved on July 23, 2007
- ^ a b "South High Alumni | SLCC". www.slcc.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
- ^ LDSToday.com article on Gordon B. Hinkley,. Retrieved on July 23, 2007
- ISBN 978-1-61168-296-0. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Stahle, Shaun D. (July 9, 2010). "Jacob Hamblin's Lasting Legacy". Church News. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- ^ "Hartt Wixom". Author Biographies. Cedar Fort Publishing. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
External links
Media related to South High School (Salt Lake City) at Wikimedia Commons