C R Black

*Charles Roy Black 1898 – 1982 *

Charles Roy Black was born December 10, 1898 in Anderson County, TN, in what is now Oliver Springs, to Charles Henry and Sarah A. Evans Black.

Young Roy Black started elementary school at Robertsville, which is now part of Oak Ridge and his higher education began at Wheat High School. At age 17 he dropped out of high school to join the Army and was sent to France for 18 months during World War I. When he returned, after the war in 1918, he re-entered Wheat High School and graduated in 1920. After graduation he taught for a year at Orchard View School near Oliver Springs. The following year he entered Maryville College and received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1925.
After graduation from Maryville College he taught and coached at Wheat High School from 1925-1926. The following year he came to South Harriman High School to teach mathematics, English and history from 1926-1928. In 1929 he became the Principal of Harriman High School until 1937, when he was appointed Principal of Roane County High School in Kingston. After one year in Kingston he resigned to return to Harriman as Superintendent of Schools where he held this position for 26 years until his retirement in 1964.

On September 4,1931 Mr. Black was instrumental in convincing the Harriman City School Board to have the new football field located on the adjoining school property. This site was the abandoned city dump. Mr. Black began leveling the area with a horse drawn plow and help from the high school’s workshop students. The field was completed and fenced in time for the Harriman-Kingston football game on October 9,1931. That same morning in the school auditorium the field was dedicated and named The Wallace-Black Field in honor of Calvin R. Wallace, the city school superintendent and Charles Roy Black, Harriman High School principal. The field still displays this name.
He was married in 1930 to the former Winifred Willoughby of South Harriman. They had three children, Marilyn, Patricia and Doug.
In 1950 he received his Masters of Arts Degree and a Master of Science Degree in Education from the University of Tennessee.

The C.R. Black Memorial Endowment Scholarship was established on July 7, 1982 by The Roane County Retired Teachers Association to honor Mr. Black for his many years of devoted service to education. The scholarship is for a Harriman High School Student pursuing a degree in education at Roane State Community College.