The story of Peabody College, Peabody Demonstration School's founder, can be traced to its beginnings on the campus of the University of Nashville.
George Peabody begins the Peabody Education Fund.
The State Normal College is established.
William Payne replaces Eben Stearns as president of the State Normal College.
The Winthrop Model School begins.
Governor James D. Porter succeeds William Payne as president of Peabody Normal College.
Practice teaching begins at Winthrop Model School.
Peabody College for Teachers is established under the leadership of Bruce R. Payne.
"The Father of Peabody Demonstration School"
Combining the old observational method favored by Payne and the new experimental methods of teacher training, Peabody Demonstration School begins as a summer school in the basement of the Jesup Psychological Laboratory. In 1919, the Demonstration School moves to "The Stucco Building," housing kindergarten and elementary grades while the upper school remains in the Jesup laboratory.
The first teacher at PDS, serving as principal as well as teacher of history and civics, is Harvey Guy Swanson.
In the 1918-1919 school year, PDS is represented by regular sports teams for the first time. The football team in the fall of 1918 ends with a 3-2 record, led by S.T. Porter at fullback.
In 1918, James Tippett succeeds Harvey Guy Swanson as principal of the Demonstration School.
A 31-year tradition is born.
The first Senior class graduates from Peabody Demonstration School.
Dr. William Yarbrough succeeds James Tippett as principal of the Demonstration School.
The spring of 1924 sees the addition of a girls' baseball team. Playing only two games that season, the team does not continue, due to lack of interest from competing schools.
Made possible by a $750,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Demonstration School's new building is completed in 1925. The dedication of the new building on February 19, 1925, begins with a processional of the British ambassador and various professors and Supreme Court officials from the Social Religious Building to the new Demonstration School. Students enter the building for classes the following May.
Early concepts of student government are formalized with the establishment of the Cooperative Student Council in 1925.
The debutantes raise $7,000 for an indoor pool.
On March 26, 1927, the Cheek Gym hosts the girls' basketball state championship game, and Peabody defeats Hampshire 26-24 to become state champs in a game that was "tied 3 times."
E.J. Gatwood becomes director of the music department and Glee Club in the fall of 1926, directing musicals and operettas at the Demonstration School until 1940. Early productions under his guidance include popular operas such as "The Pirates of Penzance," "Maid in Japan," and the operetta "The Feast of the Little Lanterns."
Dr. B.S. Holden ("Doc Holden") begins teaching social studies in 1927, and remains a beloved teacher at PDS until his retirement in 1965.
The 1928 Cinema Club produces two films, receiving a "big hand by the public" for its cinematographic efforts.
The Student Council publishes the first Peabody Handbook.
Students celebrate the bicentennial of George Washington's birthday in the PDS auditorium in 1932.
The PDS Tigers win the Little Tenn Championship Title.
A look at the entire campus of the George Peabody College for Teachers in 1937, excerpted from the 1937 student handbook.
After a more than decade-long relationship with Peabody College, as a student and later working with Peabody alumni, Dr. John Edwin Windrow becomes director of Peabody Demonstration School.
After seven years of having an intramural program only, PDS returns to interscholastic sports in the fall of 1944. The 1944-1945 football team goes 3-1 for the season with Lawrence Goodman ('45) as captain, and Bob Massie ('46) as alternate captain.
"In the summer of 1945, I dried all the silver at lunch time in exchange for my lunch." Peggy Jackson Crenshaw '46
Students from the class of 1946 pose in their formal wear.
After teaching in the science department since 1923, Dr. Robert Owens Beauchamp becomes associate director of Peabody Demonstration School in 1947.
The stylish senior ladies of the 1947 PDS Homecoming court pose together.
Dr. T. Ross Fink succeeds Dr. Windrow as director of Peabody Demonstration School.
John Culley '48 reminisces about his high school days at PDS: Mrs. Tibbott, Doc Holden, Prom, music, and more.
Under the leadership of four student directors and three representatives from each class, the Student Activities Committee begins. The group sponsors an all-school Stunt Night and several clean-up programs in its first year.
The PDS Tigers play their last football season in the fall of 1950.
Peabody Scholarships begin, allowing poor Southern students to attend the normal school.
Dr. Knox McCharen becomes director of Peabody Demonstration School.
Early on Tuesday morning June 15. 1954, a fire breaks out in the auditorium, first engulfing the stage curtains and eventually spreading to eight rooms on the second floor and six rooms on the third floor. Initial estimates put the total loss at $200,000. Of all the changes to the PDS/USN buildings throughout the years, the fire of 1954 remains the most disastrous.
The Green Hill Boys take the stage at Kennedy Veterans Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
From the scrapbook of Jack Gayden, PDS '62.
In 1963, the Peabody Board of Trustees adopts the policy of enrolling qualified students without regard to race, color, or creed, and the Demonstration School desegregates the high school.
Darrell McClain serves as principal of PDS from 1967-1969, later working as guidance counselor.
L. Edward Pratt becomes dean and director of PDS in September 1968, and the administrative duties at the school are formally separated for the first time.
Native Tennessean Robert Smotherman becomes principal of PDS in 1969, after teaching social studies for three years in the middle school.
Barney Byrd ('70) reaches for a jump ball in a game against MBA in Cheek Gym.
Jim Coddington '70 kept the notes for his chapter on athletics in the history of PDS, The Past Is Prologue.
Under the guidance of instructor Leland R. Johnson, the students of the 1969-1970 elective "American Problems" publish a history of the school, covering 1915-1970.
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