A history of former African American school R.E. Hunt High School, written by Columbus native and author Ira C. LaNier, Jr., has been digitized by the Local History Department at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System. It is now available on the Mississippi Digital Library.

The 120-page work titled “R. E. Hunt Junior-Senior High School” explores the history of the junior and senior high school as well as its staff and students. It includes personal stories as well as organizational and candid photos of students, images of former teachers and more. It lists the careers of various Hunt High alumni as well as highlighting former students who became professional athletes such as George Irby and Sam Fulton.

Others featured in the manuscript include Hunt High teacher and band director W. B. Jones, professional football player James T. Thomas, and Hunt High football coach John W. Dickerson.

“I’m exceedingly humbled and especially grateful to the Columbus Public Library leadership for its decision to house my work, which includes a history of R. E. Hunt High School and a collection of testimonials and short stories highlighting many of my childhood experiences,” LaNier said. “And while this announcement gives me great joy, I am reminded that this library was not accessible to me during my youth. To know that this institution today is the storehouse for the papers most important to me is an indication of the positive and inclusive change that is unmistakable in my hometown. And lastly, these digitized documents assure me that my ‘grandchildren’s grandchildren’ will have access to their ancestral history literally at their fingertips.”

The history of Hunt High School is one piece of a larger manuscript collection titled “The Ira C. Lanier, Jr. Papers, 2005-2023.” The collection is housed at the public library archives and includes correspondence, funeral remarks, photographs and other writings by LaNier.

R. E. Hunt High School, located at 924 Twentieth St. N., opened its doors to students in 1953. It was named after Robert Edward Hunt, long-time educator and principal of Union Academy from 1935-53 and Hunt High School from 1953-63.

Referred to as a high school, the institution actually served grades seven through 12. The curriculum included classes such as industrial arts, home economics, typing, diversified occupation, science, biology and more.

R. E. Hunt School officially closed in 2011. The following year, the R. E. Hunt Museum and Cultural Center opened in a portion of the former school.

By 2019, the building was used as an alternative school and for after-school programs. On Feb. 23 of that same year, an EF-3 Tornado severely damaged the school and museum.

In April of 2019, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History added the Hunt buildings to the list of Mississippi Landmarks.

The Columbus Municipal School District recently began work to rebuild the four-building complex in order to house sixth graders, as well as include space for career and technical classes.

LaNier grew up in the Columbus neighborhood known as Memphis Town. He was the senior class president of the 1958 Hunt High graduating class. He went on to work for almost 30 years with IBM and now lives in Colorado.

LaNier’s book was inspired by his deceased sister Shirley.

To view the digital history of R. E. Hunt High School, visit https://msdiglib.org/columbus and select “Ira C. LaNier, Jr. Papers, 2005-2023 (MS 477).”

The CLPLS works with the Mississippi Digital Library out of the University of Southern Mississippi to make collections housed in the library archives available online to researchers worldwide. The MDL provides an online portal for discovery and access of digital collections throughout the state. To visit the MDL, go to www.msdiglib.org.

For more information call (662) 329-5304 or email [email protected].