After Douglass closed its doors 27 years ago, some prominent graduates from the school’s seven national alumni chapters started a movement to rebuild their alma mater.

“The last thing that Gerry House told me before she left was ‘You’re going to get your school,’” recalled City Councilwoman Barbara Swearengen Ware, a 1957 graduate and ardent Douglass supporter.  Dr. N. Gerry House served as Memphis City Schools superintendent for eight years from 1992 to 2000.

Many alums from as far as California filed through the doors of the new school with cameras in hand. They relished the opportunity to see the return of their historic school.

The seven Douglass Alumni Chapters from around the country converged at the new Douglass High School for revelry and a walkthrough of the still unfinished facility. (Photos by Earl Standback)

This jubilant threesome celebrated the long awaited return of their alma mater.

Always a Red Devil, the backdrop of the new Douglass High School most likely will be a keepsake for these alums.

Two years ago this September, Ware participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the $24 million new school for grades 9-11. The new Douglass retains part of the old school’s front façade and stretches five blocks on the site of the original school at 3200 Mt. Olive St.

In anticipation of the fall opening, more than 350 alums from Memphis, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, Cleveland, Ohio, and various cities in California gathered in Memphis for the July 3-6 alumni convention at the Hilton Hotel on Poplar and I-240.

On day one of the convention, MCS hosted a walkthrough for alums at the still unfinished school. The facility is being built with state-of-the-art equipment.

On Independence Day, the alumni gathered in Douglass Park for their annual picnic. Alums also participated in a “meet and greet” and a musical extravaganza later that evening at the Hilton.

Saturday events included an executive meeting and a scholarship banquet, attended by 500 alums, friends and supporters.

On Sunday, the convention’s final day, Ware and other alumni gathered for a prayer breakfast and a ministers’ forum.  She said she’d be the first to celebrate when the school doors open.

“We’re going to have a wonderful school with full support from the community,” said Douglass principal Janet Thompson, a 1975 graduate. “Our No. 1 focus is to get into the school to embrace the students and to make sure that they have an understanding and appreciation of the school’s legacy.”

The new Douglass will offer an optional school program focused on public service and communication arts. The optional program, said Thompson, will be available first to ninth-graders during the 2008-09 school year.

“This is the 33rd optional program (at MCS),” said Thompson, “which will start at ninth-grade. Then an additional grade will be added each year to the optional program.”

Course work includes business technology and AP classes with labs for science, health, marketing & innovations, media technology and information systems.

“The component of community and public service includes giving back,” said Thompson. “There will be speaker forums, community internships, job shadowing and summer youth programs.”

The old school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The first graduating class of the new school will be held in 2010.

Thompson said the legacy of academic excellence and pride in the school and community will continue.