Will Rogers High School
Encyclopedia
Will Rogers High School, located on 3909 E. 5th Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma
, was built by Tulsa Public Schools
in 1939 using WPA
workers and designed by Joseph R. Koberling, Jr. and Leon B. Senter. It was named for the humorist Will Rogers
, who died in 1935 along with Wiley Post
in a plane crash. The school has approximately 1,000 students as of 2008, and more than 39,000 alumni.
In in the 2008/09 school year, Rogers English teacher Brian Grimm was honored with the district's title of "teacher of the Year". Tulsa Public Schools has 83 schools and 3,300 teachers and staff.
The school's colors are royal blue and gold, their mascot is a roper
and the students are known as the Ropers. The school's symbol is the dogiron (branding iron) used by the Rogers family.
On September 21, 2007 the Will Rogers High School building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
with national significance. It is an example of Art Deco
. The National Park Service has stated that it is one of the best examples of Art Deco high school architecture in the United States.
The school has a group of alumni who run the Tulsa Will Rogers High School Foundation Inc., which provides grants and scholarships to Rogers faculty and students. The Foundation was established in the 1990s and continues to this day.
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, was built by Tulsa Public Schools
Tulsa Public Schools
Tulsa Public Schools is an independent school district serving the Tulsa, Oklahoma area in Northeastern Oklahoma. It is the 2nd largest school district in Oklahoma. As of 2010 the district serves approximately 41,224 students, up slightly from 41,200 students from Kindergarten through Twelfth grade...
in 1939 using WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
workers and designed by Joseph R. Koberling, Jr. and Leon B. Senter. It was named for the humorist Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
, who died in 1935 along with Wiley Post
Wiley Post
Wiley Hardeman Post was a famed American aviator, the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high altitude flying, Post helped develop one of the first pressure suits. His Lockheed Vega aircraft, the Winnie Mae, was on display at the National Air and Space Museum's...
in a plane crash. The school has approximately 1,000 students as of 2008, and more than 39,000 alumni.
In in the 2008/09 school year, Rogers English teacher Brian Grimm was honored with the district's title of "teacher of the Year". Tulsa Public Schools has 83 schools and 3,300 teachers and staff.
The school's colors are royal blue and gold, their mascot is a roper
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
and the students are known as the Ropers. The school's symbol is the dogiron (branding iron) used by the Rogers family.
On September 21, 2007 the Will Rogers High School building was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
with national significance. It is an example of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
. The National Park Service has stated that it is one of the best examples of Art Deco high school architecture in the United States.
The school has a group of alumni who run the Tulsa Will Rogers High School Foundation Inc., which provides grants and scholarships to Rogers faculty and students. The Foundation was established in the 1990s and continues to this day.
Notable alumni
- Charles Bell (painter)Charles Bell (painter)Charles Bell was an American Photorealist and Hyperrealist, known primarily for his large scale still lifes.With a subject matter primarily of vintage toys, pinball machines, gumball machines, and dolls and action figures , Bell sought to bring pictorial majesty and wonder to the mundane...
, 1935–1995, noted artist - Don ChandlerDon ChandlerDonald Gene "Don" Chandler was an American college and professional football player who was a punter and placekicker in the National Football League for twelve seasons in the 1950s and 1960s...
, 1934-2011, American professional football player. - Gailard SartainGailard SartainGailard Sartain is an American comedic and serious actor, often playing characters with roots in the South. He is also an accomplished and successful painter and illustrator.-Early years and education:...
, actor and illustrator. Played Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi on "Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi's Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting" and later became a regular on Hee HawHee HawHee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
. Gailard was also featured in many Hollywood movies. - Susan E. Hinton, novelist. Wrote The OutsidersThe Outsiders (novel)The Outsiders is a coming-of-age novel based in 1965 by S. E. Hinton, first published in 1967 by Viking Press. Hinton was 15 when she started writing the novel, but did most of the work when she was sixteen and a junior in high school. Hinton was 18 when the book was published...
in her sophomore year at Rogers. - Dave Rader NCAANational Collegiate Athletic AssociationThe National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
college football coach. Was the coach of the University of TulsaUniversity of TulsaThe University of Tulsa is a private university awarding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. It is currently ranked 75th among doctoral degree granting universities in the nation by US News and World Report and is listed as one of the "Best 366 Colleges" by...
Golden Hurricane from 1988 until the year 2005. He currently serves as the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach for the University of AlabamaUniversity of AlabamaThe University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
Crimson Tide. - David GatesDavid GatesDavid Gates is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the group Bread, which reached the tops of the musical charts in Europe and North America on several occasions in the 1970s. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame...
, singer. Singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the group BreadBread (band)Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock....
. - Leon RussellLeon RussellClaude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
, musician. Occasionally referred to as "The Master of Space and Time," a title he acquired around the time of his collaborations with Joe CockerJoe CockerJohn Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
. - Elvin BishopElvin BishopElvin Bishop is an American blues and rock and roll musician and guitarist.-Career:Bishop was born in Glendale, California, and grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was ten years old...
, musician. Blues-rock guitarist best known for his hit "Fooled Around and Fell in Love." - Anita BryantAnita BryantAnita Jane Bryant is an American singer, former Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and gay rights opponent. She scored four Top 40 hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses", which reached #5...
, singer. A former Miss OklahomaMiss OklahomaThe Miss Oklahoma competition selects a winner to compete on behalf of Oklahoma in the Miss America pageant. Miss Oklahoma has won the crown on five occasions. Also, in the years when city representatives were common, Norma Smallwood won, competing as Miss Tulsa, giving the state of Oklahoma a...
, she was famous as a televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
spokesperson for Florida orange juice. She spearheaded opposition to a gay rights ordinance in Florida in 1977. - Russell MyersRussell MyersRussell Myers is an American cartoonist best known for his newspaper comic strip Broom-Hilda.Born in Pittsburg, Kansas, Myers was raised in Oklahoma where his father taught at Tulsa University. Myers was interested in cartooning from an early age...
, cartoonist. Created the comic strip Broom Hilda. - Lee MayberryLee MayberryOrva Lee Mayberry, Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player, spending seven seasons in the National Basketball Association.-Early career:...
NBANational Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
player, 1992 1st Round Draft Pick. - John WardJohn WardJohn Ward may refer to:*John Ward , English composer*John Ward , English Gresham Professor of Rhetoric*John Ward , Lord Mayor of London...
NFLNational Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
player, played at Oklahoma State University and 1970 1st Round Draft Pick of the Minnesota Vikings.
External links
- Will Rogers High School.com
- Will Rogers H.S. Alumni Foundation, Inc.
- "Will on the Hill" by WRHS Alumnus, Phyllis Bowles
- Will Rogers Alumni class of 1967
- Famous Will Rogers High School Alumni 1962-66
- John Ward - Will Rogers High School Alum 1963-66John Ward (American football)John Henry Ward is a former National Football League lineman who played from 1970 to 1976 for the Minnesota Vikings, the Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...