Ullman High School
Ullman High School | |
Active | 1937–1960s |
---|---|
School type | Public |
District | Birmingham City Schools |
Grades | 9-12 |
Colors | green & gold |
Mascot | Wolfpack |
Location | 1212 University Boulevard, (map) Birmingham |
Samuel Ullman High School is a former Birmingham City Schools high school for African-American students. It opened in 1937 in the former Ullman School building at 1212 8th Avenue South, facing 12th Street. The school had been named for long-serving Birmingham Board of Education member Samuel Ullman. It closed during racial integration in the 1960s. It was sold to the University of Alabama in Birmingham in 1970.
In 1937 the building became a high school for black students from Southside and Titusville. The high school was greatly enlarged with a new three-story classroom wing in 1957. The new wing obscured the original front facade of the school.
Notable faculty members at Ullman included Birmingham Civil Rights Institute founder Odessa Woolfolk and Reverend John Wesley Rice, father of Condoleezza Rice, who was the school's guidance counselor. Jazz musician Wilson Driver organized the first Ullman High School Band.
The school's athletic teams were known as the Wolfpack, and their colors were green and gold.
In 1970 UAB began using the former school for its classes. A year later the building was sold to the University. The Bell Auditorium was constructed as an addition to the former school, creating the Ullman-Bell complex which became the home of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. That program was relocated to the newly-constructed Heritage Hall in January 2008. The new building's name was chosen to honor the heritage of Ullman High School, as well as of its namesake.
UAB has not finalized plans for the historic building. It has been suggested that the 1957 annex might be removed as part of a renovation of the older building.
Principals
- George Bell, 1937-1965
Notable alumni
- Taylor Weldon Green, educator
- Freeman Hrabowski, President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Larry Kenon, professional basketball player
- Larry Naves, Chief Judge for the Denver, Colorado municipal courts
- Woody Peoples, Pro Bowl offensive lineman
- Doris Powell, Fountain Heights community leader and Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority chair
- Rickey Powell, Broadway and jazz vocalist
- Nathan Hale Turner Jr, Birmingham News copy editor and author
- Cynthia Wesley, victim of the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church
- Mary Esterlyn White, chemist
References
- Cruikshank, George M. (1920) History of Birmingham and Its Environs (2 vol.) Chicago: Lewis Publishing.
- Spencer, Thomas (January 2, 2008) "UAB opens its first new academic building for undergrads in 25 years." The Birmingham News
- Debro, Anita (May 27, 2016) "Preserving the memories of Ullman High" Weld for Birmingham
External links
- Ullman High School football history from ahsfhs.org website