Lanier High School (Montgomery, Alabama)
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[edit] History
Established originally in 1910 on the southern outskirts of downtown Montgomery, Alabama, this school was named for a well-known Southern poet, Sidney Lanier, who resided in Montgomery during 1866-67.
The high school moved to new facilities in 1929 further to the south. The late Gothic Revival building was constructed 1928-1929 to consolidate the original Lanier (then in a building now known as Baldwin Magnet School, formerly Baldwin Junior High School) and Montgomery County High School (then the building now known as Cloverdale Junior High School).
The name of the new school was decided by the outcome of a football game between the two schools in the fall of 1928, which Lanier won.
Frederick Ausfeld was the architect, and Algernon Blair the contractor. Consultants from Columbia University were called in to ensure that the building incorporated all the latest educational and innovations and requirements.
The building opened for class in September of 1929 and was dubbed "The Million Dollar School" due to its approximate cost.
[edit] Academics
Lanier has been recognized throughout Alabama and the Southeast as a model for academic excellence and for its tradition of intellectual integrity and scholastic accomplishments.
In 2006, Lanier was the only traditional public high school in Montgomery to meet federally-mandated No Child Left Behind standards.
[edit] Athletics
In sports it excelled from its inception through the 1960s, winning numerous state championships in all high school sports. In 1966 it was Triple State Champs, winning top honors in football, basketball, and track and field. 1966 was the first of three successive state championships in football, with the school’s last state championship in 1968.
Coaches Bobby Wilson (football, below left) and Bill Joiner (basketball, below right) dominated high school football and basketball in the state from the mid 1950s through the 1960s, each winning no less than 5 state championships in the large high school category. [1]
In the late 1960s another high school (Jefferson Davis) was constructed, the effects of the Civil Rights era were felt in school zoning, and the school’s prominence in athletics diminished.
Since 2000 the school has demonstrated a rebound in athletics, winning the 2001 boys basketball and the 2005 girls basketball state championships.
[edit] Notable Graduates
The school claims several famous graduates, including Bart Starr of professional football fame and Toni Tennille of the popular 1970s singing group “Captain and Tennille.”
In addition to famous individuals, the school also claims several of the top rated clowning groups in the world. Most notably the NutClub, circa 1993. As their saying goes, "only a hard dozen can call me cousin."
[edit] Architecture
The campus has the look of Ivy League academia architecture – see the following architectural rendering.
The following is a contemporary aerial photograph of the campus, with North oriented up. Visible are the main building with auditorium in back, old gymnasium and new gymnasium complex to the South, cafeteria on the north end, school bus complex farther to the North, athletic practice fields to the West, band practice area in the curved entry drive in the front, and parking lots behind the main building (mainly teaching and administrative staff) and in the Southeast corner of the property (students).
