A breif history of HGHS from the 1931 Panthers annual....
Sept., 1923 was a gala time in Holly Grove. For once the children could hardly wait for school to open for we were to have our first lessons in the new school house. Naturally, we were real proud to have a building of this kind, as it was Holly Grove's first brick schoolhouse.
We moved into this building with the classification of D High School and A grammar school. However, by the time school was out in the spring, the classification was raised to C.
Our next step in the promotion of the school was the addition of another teacher in 1926. This made seven teachers in all. In this year, the high school grade was raised to B and the twelfth grade added.
In 1930, the school board provided for a coach, and we had our first football team in the fall of 1930.
We have the best chemical laboratory in the county and offer besides chemistry: physics, Latin, geometry, algebra, history, social sciences, and English.
[This information about HG schools is featured in a compilation of history titled "A Few Events and Occurrences in the History of Brinkley, Arkansas, and Surrounding Towns and Communities of the Central Delta Through 1935," compiled and written by Henry A. Wilks, 1997]
The following information on early schools of the Holly Grove area is a portion of a letter that ran in the 9 November 1906 issue of The Brinkley Argus.
Holly Grove, Ark. 1906
Dear ARGUS,
... In about 1856, on a little spot of ground, now in the north part of Capt. Tom Mull's yard, stood a crude log schoolhouse which today can be seen near the house of Mr. Davis Dial. In this house was taught the first school what later became the community, and later still the beautiful, modern town of Holly Grove.
John Cocke taught the first session in this schoolhouse, and this was taught by private subscription.
Rev. John Shafer, a young Methodist minister who was transferred from an Oklahoma conference, and came in company with our townsman, W.D. Kerr, to Arkansas to begin the arduous duties of a pioneer preacher and leader, taught the second session, or rather began the second session, of school in 1860, in the same little log schoolhouse. But finding he could not serve his people to the full extent of his duties as a preacher and teacher, Mr. Shafer came to his friend, W.D. Kerr, and prevailed on him to take the school and teach out the unexpired term. This Mr. Kerr did in a successful and fruitful manner. Among some of the pupils of Prof. Kerr were Miss Susie Smith (now Mrs. D.B. Renfro, Sr.), Mr. Jim Cocke, Col. Tull Smith, Tom Pickins and Bush Roberts.
The first "free school" was possibly taught in Holly Grove in 1858. There were no free schools in our country until after the Civil War. A Mr. Wagant was the man that after preserving efforts secured the organized work and added the free schools in this section.
Judge W.D. Kerr, the third teacher of the Holly Grove school, became one of the directors.
Out of these primitive conditions, and from this worthy foundation, has grown our modern school facilities, with a special district, good equipment in every way, seldom excelled throughout Arkansas by a town of people near the size of ours.
Today our school is doing 9 grades of work, and is furnished with the best and latest textbooks of our day and is presided over by W.A. Owens, during a nine month term each year ...
[no signatory, in Wilks' compilation]
-- submitted by Jane Dearing Dennis
-- Edited by Jane Dearing Dennis at 10:10, 2005-07-13
-- Edited by Jane Dearing Dennis at 20:48, 2006-03-18
