Central High School (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Encyclopedia
Central High School, founded in 1911, is a public high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 located at 421 Fountain Street NE in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...

. The high school offers classes for grades 9-12. The school colors are Gold and Black and the school mascot is the Ram.

History

A previous school known as Grand Rapids High School was opened in 1859, and located in an old stone schoolhouse. New buildings were constructed in 1867 and 1893. A new school was constructed from 1910–1911, at a cost of USD $435,000, and opened to students on January 31, 1911. The initial class incorporated students from grades 9 through 12, and some courses that eventually evolved into Grand Rapids Community College
Grand Rapids Community College
Grand Rapids Community College is a community college located in the city of Grand Rapids in the U.S. state of Michigan. GRCC offers an Associate's degree, a variety of certification programs, occupational training, and other learning opportunities for the surrounding community.-Campuses:In...

, which was itself founded in 1914. The high school had a large auditorium, the largest in Michigan at the time that the school was built, so famous figures such as presidents Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

 have spoken there. In 1947, the school's football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 team won the state championship.

Plans are for the High School to close in 2012, though the building will continue to be used for GR Montessori, and a School of Health, Science, and Technology.

Notable alumni

  • Terry Barr
    Terry Barr
    Terry Albert Barr was an American football wide receiver. He played for nine seasons in the NFL, all with the Detroit Lions....

     (1935-2009), football player for the Detroit Lions
  • Hugh Blacklock
    Hugh Blacklock
    Hugh McNeal Blacklock was a professional American football offensive tackle in the National Football League. He played for seven seasons for the Decatur Staleys, the Chicago Staleys, the Chicago Bears and the Brooklyn Lions....

     (1893-1954), NFL player
  • John M. Burgess (1909-2003), Bishophttp://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=490
  • Roger B. Chaffee
    Roger B. Chaffee
    Roger Bruce Chaffee was an American aeronautical engineer and a NASA astronaut in the Apollo program. Chaffee died along with fellow astronauts Gus Grissom and Ed White during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Kennedy...

     (1935-1967), astronaut
  • Rex Cherryman
    Rex Cherryman
    Rexford Raymond "Rex" Cherryman was an American actor of the stage and screen whose career was most prolific during the 1920s....

     (1896-1928), actor
  • Robert Dean (Michigan politician)
    Robert Dean (Michigan politician)
    Robert Dean is a politician from the state of Michigan. He is an African-American member of the Michigan House of Representatives. His district is in the eastern portion of the city of Grand Rapids. He is a Democrat.-Early life:...

     (b. 1954), member of the Michigan House of Representatives
  • Arthur Carter Denison
    Arthur Carter Denison
    Arthur Carter Denison was a United States federal judge.Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Denison received a B.A. from University of Michigan in 1883. He was in private practice in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 1883 to 1910.On January 17, 1910, Denison was nominated by President William H...

     (1861-1942), federal judge
  • Clarence Ellis
    Clarence Ellis
    Clarence Ellis is a former American football safety with the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League . He was drafted in the first round in the 1972 NFL Draft....

     (b. 1950), football player for the Atlanta Falcons
  • Betty Ford
    Betty Ford
    Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford , better known as Betty Ford, was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during the presidency of her husband Gerald Ford...

     (1918-2011), former First Lady, wife of President Gerald Ford
    Gerald Ford
    Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...

  • Arnold Gingrich
    Arnold Gingrich
    Arnold Gingrich was the editor of, and, along with publisher David A. Smart, co-founder of Esquire magazine. He created the magazine in 1933 and remained its editor until 1961...

     (1903-1976), editor
  • Paul G. Goebel
    Paul G. Goebel
    Paul Gordon Goebel was an American football end who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1920 to 1922. He was an All-American in 1921 and was the team's captain in 1922. He played professional football from 1923 to 1926 with the Columbus Tigers, Chicago Bears, and New York Yankees...

     (1901-1988, mayor
  • Julius Houseman
    Julius Houseman
    Julius Houseman was a U.S. businessman and politician who served as mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan, as representative in the Michigan House of Representatives and as Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives....

     (1832-1891), politician
  • Charles Leonard
    Charles Leonard
    Charles Frederick Leonard Jr. was an American pentathlete and Major General during the Vietnam War.Leonard won the silver medal in the 1936 Olympic Pentathlon....

     (1913-2006), general
  • Buster Mathis
    Buster Mathis
    Buster Mathis was a boxer who had a very successful career as an amateur heavyweight boxer. He qualified for a spot in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. However, he was injured and was unable to compete there. Instead of him, the fighter Mathis beat in the Olympic Trials went to the Olympics...

     (1943-1996), boxer
  • Thomas Francis McAllister
    Thomas Francis McAllister
    Thomas Francis McAllister was a United States federal judge.Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, McAllister was a Volunteer in the French Foreign Legion from 1917 to 1918. He received an A.B. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1918 and read law to enter the bar in 1921...

    , Federal judge
  • Gordon Scott
    Gordon Scott
    Gordon Scott was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films of the Tarzan film series from 1955 to 1960.-Early life, education and military service:He was born Gordon Merrill Werschkul in Portland,...

     (1926-2007), actor who portrayed Tarzan
    Tarzan
    Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...

  • Leo Sowerby
    Leo Sowerby
    Leo Sowerby , American composer and church musician, was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1946, and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid 20th century.-Biography:...

     (1895-1968), composer
  • Frank Steketee
    Frank Steketee
    Frank W. Steketee was an All American football halfback and fullback who played with the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1918, 1920, and 1921...

     (1900-1951), football player for the University of Michigan Wolverines
  • Arthur Vandenberg (1884-1951), Republican senator who participated in the creation of the United Nations
  • Gilbert White (1877-1931), American painterhttp://www.arts.ok.gov/capitolart/permart/paintings/white/pp.html
  • Stewart Edward White
    Stewart Edward White
    Stewart Edward White was an American author.-Biography:Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan he attended Grand Rapids High School, and earned degrees from University of Michigan ....

     (1873-1946), actor
  • Elizabeth Wilson
    Elizabeth Wilson
    Elizabeth Welter Wilson is an American actress. She was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007.-Life and career:Wilson was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the daughter of Marie Ethel and Henry Dunning Wilson, who was an insurance agent...

    (b. 1921), actress
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