List of Auburn High School people explained

This list of Auburn High School people includes graduates, former students, administrators, trustees, faculty, and staff of Auburn High School in Auburn, Alabama. The list includes people affiliated with the school's predecessor institutions, the Auburn Female College (1843 - 1852, 1870 - 1885), the Auburn Masonic Female College (1852 - 1870), the Auburn Female Institute (1892 - 1908), and Lee County High School (1914 - 1956).

Auburn High School is the oldest public high school in Alabama, and the third-oldest operating secondary school in the United States south of Philadelphia.^[1] As of 2010, the school enrolls 1,309 students in technical, academic, and International Baccalaureate programs as well as joint enrollment with Auburn University and Southern Union State Community College.^[2]

The first graduation exercises of Auburn High School were held in the 1840s, awarding fewer than a dozen diplomas at each session. Today the school awards over three hundred diplomas a year and has graduated more than ten thousand students.^[3] This list organizes those associated with Auburn High School into rough professional areas and lists them in order of graduating class or years of affiliation with the school.

Professional area

Art, literature, and music

Name	Class year or years affiliated		Notability	Reference
William Spratling	1917	Silversmith and artist; considered the "Father of Mexican Silver"; co-authored Sherwood Anderson and Other Famous Creoles with William Faulkner	^[4]
Urbie Green	1943 (attended)	Jazz trombonist	^[5]
Rosemary Glyde	1966	Violist and composer; founder of the New York Viola Society	^[6]
Allen Hinds	1974	Guitarist and jazz musician	^[7]
Ted Vives	1982	Composer, trombonist, and director of the Los Alamos Community Winds	^[8]
Brian Teasley	1980s		^[9]
Man or Astro-man?	1980s	Surf punk band
Kate Higgins	1987	Voice actress, singer; English voice of Sakura Haruno in Naruto	^[10]
Ace Atkins	1989	Author, Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist	^[11]
	1992	Guitarist, Trust Company	^[12]
	2011	Spoken word artist	^[13]

Journalism

Name	Class year or years affiliated		Notability	Reference
Tom Sellers	1941	Journalist, Columbus Ledger; won 1955 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service	^[14]
Mary Lou Foy	1962	Photojournalist, Picture Editor Washington Post; president of the National Press Photographers Association, 1992	^[15]
Vanessa Echols	1979	News anchor, WRDQ and WFTV, Orlando, Florida	^[16]

Military

Name	Class year or years affiliated		Notability	Reference
Robert D. Knapp	1916	Aviation pioneer; US Air Force brigadier general	^[17]
John E. Pitts, Jr.	1942	US Army brigadier general; director International Staff, Inter-American Defense Board	^[18]

Politics and government

Name	Class year or years affiliated		Notability	Reference
John William Jones	1852 - 1856, Trustee	Congressman and physician; member of the United States House of Representatives, 1847 - 1849	^[19]
David Clopton	1859 - 1870, Trustee	Politician and jurist; member of the United States House of Representatives, 1859 - 1861; member of the Confederate Congress, 1861 - 1865; associate justice, Supreme Court of Alabama, 1884 - 1892	^[20]
James F. Dowdell	1859 - 1870, Trustee	Congressman and professor; member of the United States House of Representatives, 1853 - 1859; second president of Auburn University
James R. Dowdell	1863 - 1864	Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Alabama, 1909 - 1914	^[21]
George Paul Harrison, Jr.	1869 - 1870, Trustee	Politician and lawyer; Confederate States Army colonel; member of the United States House of Representatives, 1894 - 1897	^[22]
William J. Samford	1864	Governor of Alabama, 1900 - 1901	^[23]
William H. Lamar	1870s	Assistant Attorney General of the United States, Solicitor of the Post Office; censor of the US Mail under the Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918	^[24]
David Vann	1944	Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, 1975 - 1979	^[25]
George McMillan	1962	Lieutenant Governor of Alabama, 1979 - 1983	^[26]
Joe Turnham	1977	Chairman, Alabama Democratic Party	^[27]
Ed Packard	1986	Politician; 2006 Democratic candidate for Alabama Secretary of State	^[28]
Robert Gibbs	1989		^[29]

Science, mathematics and technology

Name	Class year or years affiliated		Notability	Reference
John M. Darby	1855 - 1858, President; 1855 - 1862, Professor of Natural Science	Botanist; created the first comprehensive catalogue of flora for the Southern United States	^[30]
I. T. Quinn	1914 - 1915, Principal	Conservationist, game commissioner of Alabama and Virginia; a founder and first vice president of the National Wildlife Federation	^[31]
Greg Kuperberg	1981 - 1982	Mathematician, University of California, Davis; author of video games Paratrooper, J-Bird, and PC-Man; Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, 1998 - 2000	^[32]
William Chen	1988	Mathematician, quantitative analyst, Susquehanna International Group; winner in two 2006 World Series of Poker events	^[33]
Eric Harshbarger	1989	Mathematician and LEGO artist	^[34]
Mark Spencer	1995	Computer engineer; Chairman and CTO, Digium; creator of Asterisk PBX and original programmer of Pidgin instant messaging software	^[35]

Social sciences

Name	Class year or years affiliated		Notability	Reference
William J. Sasnett	1859 - 1861, Trustee	Professor and minister; first president of Auburn University	^[36]
Holland McTyeire	1860 - 1870, Trustee	Minister; bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; founder of Vanderbilt University	^[37]
William P. Harrison	1861 - 1862, President	Theologian and author; Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives	^[38]
Charles B. Glenn	1880s	Educator; president National Education Association, 1937 - 1938	^[39]
Leonidas Warren Payne, Jr.	1888	Academic; editor of the first anthology of Texas literature	^[40]
Willie Dee Bowles	1920s	Educator; historian of the women's suffrage movement	^[41]
John E. Ivey, Jr.	1936	Sociologist, education researcher; pioneer in use of technology in education	^[42]

Sports

Name	Class year or years affiliated		Notability	Reference
Charlie Gibson	1923, Head football coach	Major League Baseball player, Philadelphia Athletics	^[43]
E. R. Moulton	1924-25, Head football coach	College football player, educator	^[44]
Joe Beckwith	1973	Major League Baseball pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers (1979–1983, 1986) and Kansas City Royals (1984–1985); pitched in Game 4 of 1985 World Series	^[45]
Vic Shealy	1979	Defensive coordinator, Kansas Jayhawks; won national championship as head coach of Azusa Pacific University (NAIA) in 1998	^[46]
David Gibbs	1987	Defensive backs coach, Kansas City Chiefs (2006–present), Denver Broncos (2001–2004); defensive coordinator, University of Minnesota (1997–2000), Auburn University (2005)	^[47]
Andre Payne	1993	College basketball coach	^[48]
Tracy Rocker		NFL football player, Washington Redskins; winner of college football's Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award; member of the College Football Hall of Fame	^[49]
Ben Thomas	1992–1996, teacher, football coach	NFL football player	^[50]
Marcus Washington	1996	NFL football player, Indianapolis Colts (2000–2003), Washington Redskins (2004–2009); Pro Bowl, 2005	^[51]
Joe Whitt Jr.	1997	football coach	^[52]
James Joseph	1996–2004, teacher, football coach	NFL football player, Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals	^[53]
Osi Umenyiora	1999	NFL football player, New York Giants; Pro Bowl, 2006, 2008
DeMarcus Ware	2001	NFL football player, Dallas Cowboys; Pro Bowl, 2007–2010
Zach Clayton	2002–2005	NFL football player, Tennessee Titans	^[54]
Brandon Boudreaux	2007	CFL football player	^[55]
Jamie Hampton	2008	Professional tennis player	^[56]
Karibi Dede	2009–2011, football coach	NFL football player, New York Giants; CFL football player, Montreal Alouettes	^[57]
	2012		^[58]
	2013	Football player, consensus High School All-American	^[59]
	2018		^[60]

Other people

Principals and presidents

Name	Years		Title	Reference
J. Alma Pelot	1843 - 1849	Principal	^[61]
William D. Williams	1849 - 1851	Principal	^[62]
D.S.T. Douglas	1851 - 1853	President	^[63]
John Parker Lee	1853	President	^[64]
	1855 - 1858	President
E.D. Pitts	1858 - 1860	President	^[65]
	1861 - 1862	President
James K. Armstrong	1860s	President	^[66]
W. F. Slaton	1860s	Principal	^[67]
William Shapard	1870s	President	^[68]
Henry M. Urquhart	1878 - 1880	President	^[69]
Theodore J. Lamar	1880 - 1885	President	^[70]
Gustavus J. Orr, Jr.	1885 - 1887	Principal	^[71]
Alicia Melton	1885 - 1887	Principal	^[72]
Annie W. Brockman	1889 - 1891	Principal	^[73]
A.G. Dowdell	1891 - 1892	Principal	^[74]
James J. McKee	1892 - 1893	Principal	^[75]
W. Hugh McKee	1893 - 1895	Principal	^[76]
George W. Duncan	1895 - 1902	Principal	^[77]
R.W. Smallwood	1902 - 1904	Principal	^[78]
Augustus Bogard	1904 - 1907	Principal	^[79]
W.F. Osburn	1907 - 1910	Principal	^[80]
Stanley C. Godbold	1910 - 1914	Principal	^[81]
	1914 - 1915	Principal
J.A. Parrish	1915 - 1946	Principal	^[82]
V.C. Helms	1946 - 1948	Principal
O.B. Hodges	1948 - 1954	Principal
James R. Edmonson	1954 - 1955	Principal
Russell Clark	1956 - 1957	Principal
E.E. Gaither	1957 - 1962	Principal
James L. Lovvorn	1962 - 1968	Principal
James B. Douglas	1968 - 1984	Principal
Robert Dotson	1984 - 1995	Principal
Susan Hosemann	1995 - 1996	Principal	^[83]
Michael Self	1996 - 1999	Principal	^[84]
Cathy Long	1999 - 2010	Principal	^[85]
Todd Freeman	2010 - 2013	Principal	^[86]
Rick Ranier	2013 - 2014	Principal	^[87]
Shannon Pignato	2014 - present	Principal	^[88]

Fictional characters

Name		Notability	Reference
	A character in the series	^[89]

Notes and References

1. United States Bureau of Education, Annual report of the Commissioner of Education for the year ended 1902 (Washington: G.P.O., 1902), 1696, 1696 - 1879.
2. Auburn High School Program of Study, 2007 - 2008, (Auburn: Auburn High School, 2007), 2 - 3, 6;Auburn High School Student Handbook, 2006 - 2007 , retrieved July 13, 2007; State of Alabama Department of Education, Enrollment by Ethnicity and Gender (school level) - 2009-2010 , retrieved August 6, 2010.
3. United States Bureau of Education, Annual report of the Commissioner of Education for the year ended 1902 (Washington: G.P.O., 1902); Auburn High School, "Commencement Exercises" (Auburn, Ala.: s.n., 2007).
4. William Spratling, File on Spratling: An Autobiography (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1969).
5. "Former Knight Urbie Green", Auburn Knights Alumni Association Newsletter, September 15, 1996, 6; The School Musician and Teacher, November 1970, 56.
6. "Rosemary Glyde, 46, Violist and Composer", New York Times, January 20, 1994; "Rosemary Glyde Featured Soloist with AU Orchestra February 28", Tiger Tales, January 1966.
7. http://mi.edu/about-mi/faculty/allen-hinds "Faculty Profiles: Allen Hinds"
8. The Los Alamos Arts Council, Look at the Arts , Vol. XXXVI, No. 2 (April 2006), 2; Trey Armistead, Auburn High School Band - Members 1981-82 , retrieved July 13, 2007.
9. Coury Turczyn, "Space Oddities ", PopCult, August 17, 1995, retrieved July 13, 2007; Auburn High School, The Tiger, vol. 42, (1986).
10. Trey Armistead, "Auburn High School Band - Members 1986-87 ", retrieved November 4, 2007.
11. Juan C. Ferrer, Ace Atkins, Mississippi mystery writer , retrieved July 13, 2007.
12. Geffen Records, Trust Company, retrieved April 2, 2008; Trey Armistead, Auburn High School Band - Members 1989-90 , retrieved July 13, 2007.
13. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/241926 "Somebody Loves Us All"
14. "Won Pulitzer for uncovering corruption in Alabama", Chicago Sun-Times, February 28, 2006; Auburn Bulletin, May 21, 1941.
15. Office of Alumni Affairs, Auburn University. Auburn Magazine Advisory Board , retrieved July 8, 2007; Trey Armistead, Auburn High School Band - Auburn High School Band Officers , retrieved July 13, 2007.
16. wftv.com, Vanessa Echols - WFTV News Story - WFTV Orlando , retrieved July 13, 2007; Trey Armistead, Auburn High School Band - Members 1976 - 77 , retrieved July 13, 2007.
17. Web site: Robert Duane Knapp Brigadier General, United States Air Force. 2007-11-05.
18. United States Air Force, Biographies: BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN E. PITTS JR.. Retrieved July 13, 2007.
19. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "JONES, John William, (1806 - 1871)", retrieved November 11, 2007.
20. East Alabama Male College, Officers, Regulations, Statutes &c, of East Alabama Male College, Auburn, Alabama., (Atlanta: C.R. Hanleiter, 1859); East Alabama College, Catalog of the Officers and Students of the East Alabama College, Auburn, Alabama., (Baltimore: Kelly Putnam, 1870); Leland Cooper, The Early History of Auburn, Thesis (Auburn: s.n., 1907), 5.
21. Alabama Dept. of Archives and History. Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1907, 43.
22. East Alabama College, Catalog of the Officers and Students of the East Alabama College, Auburn, Alabama., (Baltimore: Kelly Putnam, 1870); Leland Cooper, The Early History of Auburn, Thesis (Auburn: s.n., 1907), 5.
23. George Hudson Smith, "The Life and Times of William J. Samford", Thesis. (1969); William F. Slaton, Diary.
24. Successful Americans, Distinguished Successful Americans of Our Day, (Chicago: Successful Americans, 1912), 287; Ann Hagedorn, Savage Peace: Hope and Fear in America, 1919 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007), 184.
25. "Ex-Mayor Vann Dies at 71", Birmingham News, June 10, 2000.
26. Alexander Nunn, Lee County and Her Forebears(Montgomery, Ala.: Herff Jones, 1983), 2.
27. Joe Turnham, "Session offered more than just punch", Opelika-Auburn News, June 18, 2007; Auburn High School, The Tiger, vol. 32, (1976).
28. "Packard best bet for Secretary of State", Opelika-Auburn News, June 2, 2006.
29. Hope Yen, "Obama names longtime spokesman Gibbs press chief", Associated Press, retrieved November 23, 2008.
30. "The Auburn Male College", Alabama Historical Quarterly, vol. 18 - 1956 (1956), 168 - 175; Mickey Logue and Jack Simms, Auburn, A Pictorial History of the Lovliest Village (Norfolk: The Donning Company, 1981), 24.
31. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Alabama Official and Statistical Register, (Montgomery: State of Alabama, 1931), 67.
32. Classmates.comAuburn High School, Auburn, Alabama (AL), retrieved November 5, 2007; Paratrooper (DOS, 1982) , retrieved November 5, 2007; University of California, Davis Mathematics, Honors and Awards Received by UC Davis Mathematics Faculty, retrieved April 2, 2008.
33. Planet Ace Gibraltar Ltd., William Chen - Professional Poker Player Profile , retrieved July 13, 2007; The Mathematical Association of America, USAMO - 1987 Student Participants, retrieved April 2, 2008.
34. Eric C. Harshbarger, Eric C. Harshbarger, retrieved July 13, 2007.
35. Quentin Hardy, "Dial D for Disruption", Forbes, April 10, 2006, retrieved July 13, 2007; Jeff Pulver, "Mark Spencer - Creator of Askerisk ", VON Magazine, retrieved April 2, 2008.
36. East Alabama Male College, Officers, Regulations, Statutes &c, of East Alabama Male College, Auburn, Alabama., (Atlanta: C.R. Hanleiter, 1859); East Alabama College, Catalog of the Officers and Students of the East Alabama College, Auburn, Alabama., (Auburn, Ala.: s.n., 1861); Leland Cooper, The Early History of Auburn, Thesis (Auburn: s.n., 1907), 5.
37. East Alabama College, Catalog of the Officers and Students of the East Alabama College, Auburn, Alabama., (Auburn, Ala.: s.n., 1861); East Alabama College, Catalog of the Officers and Students of the East Alabama College, Auburn, Alabama., (Baltimore: Kelly Putnam, 1870); Leland Cooper, The Early History of Auburn, Thesis (Auburn: s.n., 1907), 5.
38. Rossiter Johnson, "HARRISON, William Pope", The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, vol. V. (Boston: The Biographical Society, 1904); "The Auburn Male College", Alabama Historical Quarterly, vol. 18 - 1956, 172 - 175; Wright, Glimpses into the Past from my Grandfather's Trunk, 32.
39. Marie Stevens Walker Wood, The Glen-Glenn family of Scotland, Ireland and America, (Atlanta: F.B. Bone and W.I. Bone, 1968), 169; "Safe and Secure", Time, March 8, 1937.
40. The University of Texas, The University of Texas Record, Volume VII (Austin, Texas: University, 1906), 201 - 202.
41. Handbook of Texas Online, BOWLES, WILLIE DEE (1912-?), retrieved November 11, 2007.
42. Bruce Lambert, " John E. Ivey Jr., 73, a Champion of Using TV in Education, Is Dead", New York Times, May 30, 1992.
43. The Baseball Cube, Charlie Gibson Baseball Statistics, retrieved July 13, 2007; Opelika Daily News, September 28, 1923.
44. "Moulton to retire from schools here", Rome News-Tribune, May 17, 1966; "Auburn Tigers: Coaches", retrieved July 27, 2015.
45. Kimberly Shumack, Feature Story on Joe Beckwith , retrieved July 13, 2007.
46. J. Brady McCollough, "Determination is watchword for KU defensive coordinator Vic Shealy", Kansas City Star, September 13, 2011; Azusa Pacific University, Head Coach Vic Shealy , retrieved October 7, 2007.
47. Kansas City Chiefs, David Gibbs, Defensive Backs, Kansas City Chiefs , retrieved October 7, 2007; Minutes of City Board of Education, Auburn, Alabama, April 14, 1987.
48. MVSU Athletics, Andre Payne - Staff Directory - Mississippi Valley State University , retrieved October 15, 2018.
49. OleMissSports.com Tracy Rocker, retrieved April 2, 2008.
50. Bill Plott, "FORMER AU STAR THOMAS HAS ALLEGIANCES TO PACK, PATS", The Birmingham News, January 19, 1997.
51. "Auburn High produces three unlikely NFL stars", Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, July 1, 2006.
52. https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=3811283 Green Bay Packers Fire Six Coaches
53. "In Brief", The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, February 27, 2004.
54. Aaron Burns, "OHS grad making impact on AU's line ", Auburn Villager, October 13, 2010; The Titans add DT Zach Clayton in the 7th round, retrieved May 1, 2011.
55. Justin Dunk, Ticats rookie Boudreaux an unknown force , retrieved August 9, 2012.
56. http://www.ustagirls.org/profiles/ppwrap.cgi?action=show&last=Hampton&first=Jamie&mi=L Jamie L Hampton
57. Rachel Morand, "Auburn High football to follow up perfect season ", The Auburn Villager, August 20, 2009.
58. http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/04/cincinnati_bengals_draft_forme.html Cincinnati Bengals draft former Auburn High standout Cody Core
59. http://www.oanow.com/blogs/prep_blog/article_443078b0-4d4a-11e2-848c-0019bb30f31a.html Auburn High's Reuben Foster named to ALL-USA team
60. Web site: Mohamoud Diabate, Utah, Linebacker . April 11, 2023 . 247Sports.
61. [I. M. E. Blandin]
62. "The Auburn Female Seminary", Daily Alabama Journal, January 18, 1851.
63. "The Auburn Masonic Female College", The Auburn gazette, May 27, 1853.
64. F.W. Nicolson, Alumni Record of Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., (New Haven, Conn.: The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor company, 1921), 83.
65. Franklin S. Moseley, "Epaminondas D. Pitts", Huntingdon College Special Collections and Archives.
66. Franklin S. Moseley, "James King Armstrong", Huntingdon College Special Collections and Archives.
67. William F. Slaton, Diary.
68. Edward Allen Fay, Histories of American schools for the deaf, 1817–1893, (Washington: 1893), 17.
69. Henry Theodore Urquhart, Jr. & Elaine Crabtree Urquhart, Family Ties II, Vol I, The Urquharts 2nd ed., (March 1993), 18-21.
70. Joel Campbell DuBose, Notable men of Alabama: personal and genealogical, with portraits, (Atlanta, Ga.: Southern Historical Assoc., 1904).
71. J.C. Phillips, Annual and Quarterly Finan cial Reports, Township 19, Range 26 (1886); The Heritage of Lee County, Alabama, (Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000), 224.
72. "Run Over by a Train", The Atlanta Constitution, October 31, 1887.
73. United States Bureau of Education, Annual report of the Commissioner of Education for the year ended 1890 (Washington: G.P.O., 1890)
74. United States Bureau of Education, Annual report of the Commissioner of Education for the year ended 1892 (Washington: G.P.O., 1892)
75. United States Bureau of Education, Annual report of the Commissioner of Education for the year ended 1893 (Washington: G.P.O., 1893)
76. United States Bureau of Education, Annual report of the Commissioner of Education for the year ended 1894 (Washington: G.P.O., 1894); Auburn Female Institute, Announcement of the Auburn Female Institute, 1894-95, (Opelika, Ala.: R.J. Rice, 1894), 3.
77. Joel Campbell DuBose, Notable men of Alabama: personal and genealogical, with portraits, (Atlanta, Ga.: Southern Historical Assoc., 1904), 184-185; United States Bureau of Education, Annual report of the Commissioner of Education for the year ended 1902 (Washington: G.P.O., 1902), 1696.
78. United States Bureau of Education, Annual report of the Commissioner of Education for the year ended 1903 (Washington: G.P.O., 1903).
79. "Teachers Re-Elected. Trustees Select Same Staff of Instructors at Auburn", The Montgomery Advertiser, June 18, 1905.
80. Homer L. Patterson, Patterson's College and School Directory of the United States and Canada, (Chicago: American Educational Co., 1909), 559.
81. National Education Association of the United States, Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence, February 1911, 175; Homer L. Patterson, Patterson's College and School Directory of the United States and Canada, (Chicago: American Educational Co., 1914), 9.
82. Auburn High School, Auburn High School Student Handbook, 1994–1995 (Auburn: Auburn City Schools, 1994).
83. Auburn High School, The Tiger, vol. 52, (Herff Jones, 1996).
84. Auburn High School, The Tiger, vol. 55, (Herff Jones, 1999).
85. Web site: Administration home. 2008-03-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20080315014706/http://www.auburnschools.org/ahs/administration/admin.html. 2008-03-15. dead.
86. Web site: Freeman to Head Auburn High. 2010-08-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20111008062025/http://www2.oanow.com/news/2009/dec/09/freeman_to_head_auburn_high-ar-498217/. 2011-10-08. dead.
87. Web site: Elba schools superintendent named Auburn High principal. 2015-07-27.
88. Web site: BOE approves new AHS principal. 2015-07-27.
89. Web site: Know Your Joe: Beach Head. 2008-04-02.