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Memphis University School
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Memphis University School (MUS) is an all-male private school for grades 7–12, located in Memphis, Tennessee.
History
MUS was founded in 1893 by two men named Edwin Sidney Werts and James White Sheffey Rhea. MUS is a college-preparatory school. The school's colors, red and blue, were chosen by the founders to represent the high academic standards of two elite universities, Yale and Harvard. MUS soon developed such a strong reputation among universities that many exempted graduating students from college entrance examinations. MUS prospered and the school moved from the old Bethel Building to the Clara Conway Institute at 297 Poplar until a new campus was built near the corner of Madison and Manassas in downtown Memphis. The campus remained at this site until 1936 when financial difficulties associated with the Great Depression forced the school to close.
However, as the post-war economic boom of the late 1940s and early 1950s saw an increasing need for private education, plans were put into place to re-start MUS. Anthony Dick, the pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, had successfully launched Presbyterian Day School in 1947 as a boys' kindergarten through eighth grade institution. A new MUS was planned as a continuation high school for the PDS boys. Realizing that there was not enough space at Second Presbyterian Church to host a first-class prep school, alternative sites were studied. In 1950, the current site was acquired from two families with boys at PDS. Plans were made for the new school and culminated as the new MUS was chartered in 1954. The leadership of Second Presbyterian Church and local business leaders aimed to revive the spirit of the original school. The non-denominational school re-opened in 1955 on the current 94 acre campus at 6191 Park Avenue in East Memphis. Under the leadership of Col. Ross M. Lynn and a dedicated Board of Trustees chaired by Alexander Wellford, the school graduated its first seniors in 1958. Early in the 1960s, the seventh and eighth grades were moved from PDS to MUS because of space issues at the church.
Notable Alumni
- Chris Bell, musician, member of Big Star
- Alex Chilton, musician, member of Big Star and the Box Tops
- Hank Sullivant, musician, frontman for Kuroma, past bassist for The Whigs, touring guitarist for MGMT
- Sid Evans, Editor, Garden & Gun Magazine
- Rick Fogelman, president and CEO of Fogelman Properties
- Richard Halliburton, adventurer, athlete, author
- Tom Hutton, former NFL punter, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles
- J.R. Hyde III, founder of Autozone
- Admiral Charles H. Johnston, United States Navy
- Paul Tudor Jones, Commodity Trader
- Scott Ledbetter, CEO of Ledic Management Group
- David O. Sacks, Founder and CEO of Web 2.0 company Geni, Inc.; movie producer: ex. Thank You for Smoking
- Hampton Sides, Author, Ghost Soldiers
- Mitch Stem, Chairman and CEO of Delta Packaging Systems
- Alex Williams, New Orleans based artist
- Frederick W. Smith, Founder, CEO of Fedex
- Dan Schneider, Nickelodeon producer
- Michael Beck, actor and voice actor
Athletics
Its athletic program competes within the Super Prep conference, and won state championships in football in 1985, 2004 and 2005, and basketball in 2006-2007. Their archrival in athletics is Christian Brothers High School.
External links
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