School Days: Subligna School Children

Today I’ve another update in the School Days series. The last update was very specific, naming each student and the exact class and year. That image was from 1991. Most of the time, older school photos aren’t so well documented, and history leaves us to our own devices. Today’s photo is one such image.

I know virtually nothing about this photo except that it was taken at Subligna School. Since all the students look the same age, I’m assuming they’re all in the same class. That’s just a guess though. And since I don’t know any of their names, I can’t accurately judge the year.

The one clue is that the photo is from the collection of my cousin David Grigsby. David Grigsby graduated from Subligna in 1946. Later in life, David was a local historian, particularly of Subligna school, and it is thanks to him (and his wife Delores) that I have learned a lot of what I know about those days otherwise long forgotten. Unfortunately, just because this image is in his collection doesn’t necessarily mean it was his class. If only he were still around to fill us in on the details.

Still, if I had to make a guess, I’d venture to say this photo is from the 1930s, but I can’t be sure. If by any chance you are reading this and recognize any of these people, please leave a comment and let me know!

Now for an update on a previous School Days photo. Back in April, I started the School Days series with a photo of students at Subligna School in the 1930’s. My grandfather Harold Scoggins was the only person I was able to identify.

Then in June, the Chattooga County Historical Society shared the same photo on their Facebook page. This prompted me to revisit the photo and dig through some papers on Subligna School that I obtained from Delores Grigsby. The Grigsby papers document the names of some of the students in each graduating class. I knew that my grandfather Harold graduated in 1941. Luckily, the Grigsby papers listed the names of at least some of the other youngsters (the list may not be comprehensive) who also graduated that year. Those names are as follows:

• Herman Anderson
• Edwina Gilstrap
• Wheeler Manis
• Kathleen Maxey
• J. H. Robins
• Harold Scoggins (my grandfather)
• Bill Self
• Martha Self
• Mary Smith

I figure a number of students from the class of ’41 are probably also in the photo with Harold. If anyone out there can identify these people or know other details about the class of 1941 (or anything else about Subligna school, really–no detail is too small), be sure to leave a comment below and get in touch.

Below is the photo from that previous post so you can compare it to the list of names here.