1919-1920

Dickson High School

1919-1920 (1st School Year)

On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, officially ending World War I.

Life in Dickson County was changing.

WWI was over.

The roaring twenties were about to begin.

Dickson County School officials met in Charlotte in July of 1919 to finalize plans for the new high school that would be opened on the grounds of the old Dickson Normal College. The official name chosen was “Dickson Central High School.” They voted to make improvements to the campus including new plaster, hardwood floors, updated roofs and new paint to the buildings.

The school officially opened on Monday September 1st, 1919 at 2pm for registration. No students were admitted who did not present their 8th grade diploma. All Dickson County residents were allowed to attend for free. Students from outside Dickson County had to pay $5 a month to attend. 135 students enrolled. Classes began the next day, September 2nd at 9:00am.

Professor W.M. Bratton was appointed to be the first principal. He lived on campus in one of the old college dorms. Some students also lived in the dorms, but students who lived on campus had to pay a fee of $18 a month or $14 a month if they went home on the weekends. Having dorm rooms in a high school was very rare, even back then.

The first history teacher hired by Dickson High School was a World War I veteran named E.P. Crutchfield. He had grown up in Nashville, graduating from Hume-Fogg High School and Vanderbilt University. During the war, he joined the army and spent several months in France. While stationed there he learned how to speak French and he also taught a French class at the high school.

On November 7th, 1919 the first D.C.H.S. football team made its debut. The first game of the season was against Hohenwald High School and it was played in Dickson at a field located off campus, “about a half mile out on the Yellow Creek Pike.” The Dickson boys wore the new school colors of maroon and white.

The team had been training for weeks and the average weight of the players was 130 pounds. According to the Dickson Herald, the Dickson team had a star player that had previously played for the Oakmont football team before their students moved to the new Dickson High School. It also mentioned that the team had developed a “brick wall line” and a “strong backfield.”

The Dickson team had a superb running attack. They were able to easily defeat the squad from Lewis County by a score of 53-0. Players mentioned by the newspaper the following week due to their outstanding performances were: Henslee, Joslin, Sizemore, Clement (kicker), Miller (40 yard TD run), and Leech (5 TD).