For many years Pearl High was the only high school for Negroes in Nashville. Pearl High always maintained an "A" rating by the accrediting agencies for the excellence of its academic programs.
In 1983 Pearl High was merged with Cohn High School. In 1986 the new school opened at its present location on Twenty-sixth Avenue, North.
The walls of the old abandoned Pearl were lined with pictures of graduating classes beginning with the first in 1899 until the last in 1983. The show cases in the foyer were filled with championship trophies, honor plaques, achievement citations and outstanding student awards. During the brief period that the building was unoccupied, vandals damaged or destroyed many of these treasured objects. It was Dr. Samella Junior-Spence, Principal of the Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School, who recovered those memorabilia which were left and who stored them for future reclaim.
Every summer, hundreds of Pearl High Alumni return for class reunions. One of the most consistently expressed concerns was that for the recovery and restoration of the Pearl High display items.
Sixteen dedicated Pearl High Alumni undertook the task of recovering and restoring class pictures and memorabilia. They worked from October, 1991 until its grand opening June 27, 1992. Mr. Charles O. Frazier, Director of the Nashville Schools gave permission for the establishment of the recovered memorabilia to be housed in the Vocational Building of the old school. Dr. Bill M. Wise had the building repaired, and painted and made available for the display of the recovered objects.
As a result the Pearl High School Association, Inc. was formed in 1992. A charter was developed. A statement of purpose in this charter reads: "The purpose or purposes for which the corporation is organized are: To organize a group of people who had some form of affiliation with Pearl High in the past, whether a student, employee, or just a friend. To preserve the history and memorabilia of Pearl High School. Gathering as much data and memorabilia of Pearl High for the Archives." The document is signed by Theodore H. Lenox, Jr., Incorporator, November 19, 1992.
Recently this Board of Education voted to enlarge the much needed classroom space for the Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School. The space now occupied by the Pearl High School Alumni Museum is needed for the expansion. The Pearl High Association has been promised that the Museum will be moved, intact, to another acceptable space in the main structure. The choice of this space has already been determined and is acceptable to the Association. It affords easier access to the Museum and will provide added space for future acquisitions.
The Pearl High Association needs confirmation from this Board that these promises be kept and the granted conditions become permanent. Therefore, the Board is asked to accept and approve the Resolution that the Pearl High School Alumni Museum become a permanent part of the building formerly known as Pearl High School and that the name of the Museum be maintained over the entrance thereto.
Therefore this 1994 Board on this day October 11, 1994, is asked by vote in this session to adopt this resolution that the Pearl High School Alumni Museum remain a permanent exhibit in the Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School building. If in the future the existing space of the Museum is needed for further expansion, the Museum will remain a permanent part of the present Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School building.
When a new and updated history of Public Education in the City of Nashville is written, the chapter on Pearl High School will be one of which Nashvillians, past, present and future can justifiably be proud.
In 1983 Pearl High was merged with Cohn High School. In 1986 the new school opened at its present location on Twenty-sixth Avenue, North.
The walls of the old abandoned Pearl were lined with pictures of graduating classes beginning with the first in 1899 until the last in 1983. The show cases in the foyer were filled with championship trophies, honor plaques, achievement citations and outstanding student awards. During the brief period that the building was unoccupied, vandals damaged or destroyed many of these treasured objects. It was Dr. Samella Junior-Spence, Principal of the Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School, who recovered those memorabilia which were left and who stored them for future reclaim.
Every summer, hundreds of Pearl High Alumni return for class reunions. One of the most consistently expressed concerns was that for the recovery and restoration of the Pearl High display items.
Sixteen dedicated Pearl High Alumni undertook the task of recovering and restoring class pictures and memorabilia. They worked from October, 1991 until its grand opening June 27, 1992. Mr. Charles O. Frazier, Director of the Nashville Schools gave permission for the establishment of the recovered memorabilia to be housed in the Vocational Building of the old school. Dr. Bill M. Wise had the building repaired, and painted and made available for the display of the recovered objects.
As a result the Pearl High School Association, Inc. was formed in 1992. A charter was developed. A statement of purpose in this charter reads: "The purpose or purposes for which the corporation is organized are: To organize a group of people who had some form of affiliation with Pearl High in the past, whether a student, employee, or just a friend. To preserve the history and memorabilia of Pearl High School. Gathering as much data and memorabilia of Pearl High for the Archives." The document is signed by Theodore H. Lenox, Jr., Incorporator, November 19, 1992.
Recently this Board of Education voted to enlarge the much needed classroom space for the Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School. The space now occupied by the Pearl High School Alumni Museum is needed for the expansion. The Pearl High Association has been promised that the Museum will be moved, intact, to another acceptable space in the main structure. The choice of this space has already been determined and is acceptable to the Association. It affords easier access to the Museum and will provide added space for future acquisitions.
The Pearl High Association needs confirmation from this Board that these promises be kept and the granted conditions become permanent. Therefore, the Board is asked to accept and approve the Resolution that the Pearl High School Alumni Museum become a permanent part of the building formerly known as Pearl High School and that the name of the Museum be maintained over the entrance thereto.
Therefore this 1994 Board on this day October 11, 1994, is asked by vote in this session to adopt this resolution that the Pearl High School Alumni Museum remain a permanent exhibit in the Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School building. If in the future the existing space of the Museum is needed for further expansion, the Museum will remain a permanent part of the present Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School building.
When a new and updated history of Public Education in the City of Nashville is written, the chapter on Pearl High School will be one of which Nashvillians, past, present and future can justifiably be proud.