History

National Historic Listing. . .

. . . and Notable Alumni

We want to extend a million thanks to Ken Dobrovolny (65) for the past 3 years effort on getting this listing pushed through.

The TEAM of professionals who worked on this project did a great job. We will have more information to follow and proper credit to those who made it happen. Mission accomplished!!

History of the project to gain National Register of Historic Places for South High. 2018– 2021

by Ken Dobrovnolny (’65)

The writing of the Preliminary Property Evaluation for History Colorado was the first step in the journey, and that was undertaken in the spring, but other interests temporarily interrupted that journey, until the spring of 2019.  More research into what was needed to write the Preliminary Report was conducted and the final completion of that form was achieved in June of 2019.  Once submitted to History Colorado, the acceptance of that was sent to me in late June of 2019.  I thoroughly expected to achieve completion of the nomination form that fall in time for the October 2019 deadline. 

That expectation being unrealistic became apparent fairly soon, as I realized how immense the project really was.  Understanding the complexity of the documentation required and the architectural historical perspective necessary to fully describe the details of the building was enormous.  I started asking the wonderful folks at History Colorado for suggestions as to whom to contact to help with the effort.  They guided me to several consultants to contact, and Kathy Corbett came to our rescue, which was a wonderful start to our team.   

Getting the Denver Public Schools on board with this effort was also very trying, as they were initially hesitant to agree with the alumni association’s efforts.  We, with the help of Megan Eflin and Jennifer Deichman from History Colorado, as well as Kathy Corbett and South’s principal, Bobby Thomas (thru 2022),  we were finally able to convince DPS that no additional building or renovation requirements would be added because of National Register designation..   Bobby Thomas and the staff of the school are now active parts of the effort, as well as the students in the South Student Senate. 

We have also recruited Jane Daniels from Colorado Preservation to conduct the writing of the grant application for History Colorado.  We now believe we have the players together to complete our efforts. The South students will assist both with the grant application and also with helping the research aspect of the actual writing of the nomination form.   We are very excited to see how the students will be able to contribute and learn about this exciting and detailed process to achieve National Register of Historic Places designation.

SHAFI received approval for the Grant from History Colorado in June of 2020, but due to the COVID-19 shutdown of the entire Denver Public School system, we were unable to continue our research or start writing the proposal during the summer or fall of 2020.  Only after South High opened back up in the early months of 2021 were we again able to access the building.  Dr. Kathy Corbett has just begun her on-site research, and already has some photographs already taken to help our application.   We are now hoping to get South students involved, either during the summer of 2021 or the fall of 2021, to assist Kathy in further research and writing.

Our timeline has now shifted to hoping to have the proposal completely written by the late months of 2021, and then submitted to History Colorado in January of 2022.  The staff at History Colorado will assist us along the way with reviews of our proposal and recommendations for improvements.   We are making several assumptions that COVID restrictions will not make major roadblocks to our progress.   We have until June of 2023 to use the grant funding from History Colorado, so we have a reasonable cushion for time.   The South alumni have been particularly generous in donating to our cause, and have exceeded the amount that SHAFI has committed to completing this project.

When we achieve our submission of the nomination form, hopefully in January of 2022, then we would receive a confirmation (if successful) in late spring of 2022. 

. . .Notable Alumni

Year	Graduate	Background
1922	Donald John Keirn	Major Air Force General with involvement in atomic weapons
1924	Albert Mooney	Founder of Mooney Aircraft
1933	Keith Ware	WWII Medal Of Honor; Died in Viet Nam as a 3 star General
1936	Verne (Vincent) Byers	Musician and Bandleader.  Brought the Beatles to Denver Concert
1937	Letitia Gramcko Stahnke	First woman Podiatrist west of the Mississippi; WWII military service, first woman in Colorado to be certified scuba diver
1937	Jack Bennett	WWII pilot & POW later portrayed in the Great Escape (Jim Garner character)
1938	Harold Agnew	Nuclear physicist who worked on both the creation of the first atomic weapons
1938	Bert Stiles	WWII hero, Author killed in WWII
1940	Arnold Kramish	Physicist who worked on Manhattan Project, authority on weapons and author
1941	Joy Cayler	Age 16 created all girl jazz band that toured with the USO
1941	Gene Amole	Rocky Mountain News Columnist; Author; TV/Radio personality, Journalism Hall of Fame
1943	James Vaughan	Played trumpet with Tommy Dorsey during WWII
1944	Warren Chandler	Denver TV personality; producer of television documentaries
1945	Robert M Warner	Served as the 6th National Archivist of the United States from 1980-1985.  See obit
1947	Don Beuthell	Founder Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library (stamp collecting)
1948	Chuck Darling	Basketball Player, All American, University of Iowa, Olympic Gold Medal, Colorado Sports Hall of Fame 1996
1949	Ward Grant	Life long Personal Assistant for Bob Hope
1949	Marilyn Sweitzer Hickey	Evangelist
1949	Fred Meissner	Geoscientist, professor at Mines, Author
1950	Edwin Peiker	President Royal Gold and Mining
1950	Stan Phillips	Museum of Modern Art in New York
1950	Robert Higgins	Zoologist, Researcher, Smithonian Inst. Director of Oceanography and Limnology, curator of Invertebrate Zoology
1951	Don Etter	Don and Carolyn Etter served as Mgr of Parks & Rec under Fedrico Pena.
1951	Stan Brakhage	Notable film maker known for experimenting in film making on exhibit at a New York museum
1952	John Hall	PHD; Nobel prize winner for work in lasers
1952	Dale Tooley	Denver District Attorney; Mayoral Candidate
1952	Carolyn Brush Etter	Don and Carolyn Etter served as Mgr of Parks & Rec under Fedrico Pena.
1952	Frank Rosenmayr	Olympic Wrestling
1952	Janet Bonnema	Civil Engineer and Women’s Rights Activist.
1952	James Tenney	Composer, Music Theorist
1953	David Clair	Top grad in CU Chem Engineering; VP Exxon R&D
1954	Gary Roubos	Top grad in CU Chem Engineering; Became CEO of large corporation
1954	John Kane	Well known Federal judge
1956	Patricia Elliott	TV Actress
1958	Ron Mitchell	Local TV news personality
1958	Carol Bosselman Wright	Circus Performer
1959	Jon “Nick” Willhite	LA Dodgers / 65 World Series
1959	Ken Charlton	All-American basketball player at CU in 1963.
1960	John Perdew	Civil Rights worker
1965	Robin Hall	Producer of Macey’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
1973	Martha Williamson	Female Television Producer – Touched By An Angel and other major productions
1975	Diana DeGette	US House of Representatives since 1997
1981	Michael Lavine	Portrait Photographer, known for grunge bands
1983	Michael Perez	Pro Football Player with Giants, Houston, Denver
1987	Sky Gallegos	2008 Democratic Convention’s deputy chief executive for intergovernmental affairs
1999	Conor Casey	Olympic Soccer star; Colorado Rapids soccer player, All American
2002	LenDale White	Pro Football Player, did two years at South but graduated at Chatfield
2004	Calais Campbell	Football player, NFL Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017
	Kent Harvey	Film maker Marvel comics, Everest movie
	Dan Kittle
	Phillip Lindsay	CU football player, broke all kinds of records at CU
	Stewart Milligan	Actor, primarily UK
1965	Stephanie Foote	Denver City Council, Wellington Webb’s assistant
1933	Harold E Berg	EVP Getty Oil, former pres Skelly Oil Co
1962	Thom McKelvey Cleaver	Author, screen writer
1945	Georgia Mattox Gorringe	Author
1960	Sharon Taylor Talbot	Playwright, won ntional prize from New York Women in Arts and Media 2003
1960	Michael Eldridge	Author, Jack of Hearts, Musician
1958	Brian Etheridge	Lockheed Martin designed autopilots for Titan , head of Guidance and Controls Section, helped FAA modernize National Air Traffic Control System
1950	Herbert Hugh Edwards	Head lawyer for Dow Chemical heading Agent Orange litigation team, Midland MI City Council, County Road Commissioner, County Commissioner
2001	Matt Wolpe	Author, Reinventing the Chicken Coop
1964	Patrick Mendoza	Author, Between Midnight and Morning, Song of Sorrow Massacre at Sand Creek
1946	Richard Morton	Cowboy Poet and Author, 20-year Greenwood School principal
1949	Peggy Hamilton Lockard	Author, University of Arizona’s Women’s Plaza of Honor
ex 1943	Robert McQueen	Dean of University of Nevada College of Arts and Sciences, Robert McQueen High School in Reno, NV
1947	Cynthia Cushman Johnson	Author, Frigolli Frog
1945	Bob Perske	Citizen Advocate Award 2011 ARC of the United States posthumous pardon of Joe Arridy, author, Deadly Innocence about Joe Arridy
1948	Merrill Franklin	Author, Speck, Principles and Practice
1950	Royal Smith	Radiologist, 2009 Outstanding American Colorado Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
1957	Carl V. Manion	Author, Words from the Hills and Plains
1950	John A. Sells	Author, Stagecoaches Across the American West 1850-1920
1947	Mary Knott McNabb	Denver Radio Personality AKA Merrie Lynn
1950	Elmer W. Johnson	Executive Vice President and Director of General Motors, CEO of the Aspen Institute, author Chicago Metropolis 2020: The Chicago Plan for the 21st Century
1959	Jim Manspeaker	Chief Clerk of US Federal Trial Court
1978	Lisa Freed Pavelka	Author, Polymer Clay Extravaganza
1951	Donald W. Hansen	Brigadier General, Retired, Author, lecturer, Chief of Criminal Law Division, Army, Chief of Government Appellate Division, U.S. Army Legal Services Agency, Distinguished Servace Medal, Brone Stars, Air Medal, JAG School Alumni Legal Writing Award
1962	Robert A. Wherry	Judge, United States Tax Court, Washington, D.C.
1939	Burnett Meyer	Ph.D. Professor at University of Arizona, University of Colorado, head of undergrad committee of CU Math Department
1945	Bud L. Burson	Channel 7 Everyday Hero, Ski Instructor for National Sports Center for the Disabled
1964	Vern Ingraham	Channel 9 9 Who Cares Award. At UNC, ROTC’s Bronze, Silver and Gold President’s Medals for Academic Achievement and Distinguished Air Force ROTC graduate, CPA, US General Accounting Office, Department of Interior, Interior’s Meritorious Service Award, Executive Director of Scottish Rite Foundation of Colorado, established scholarship for teachers
1965	John Lunn	All American Track at CU
1950	Jan Anderson Lehrman	Author, Around Douglas, and Around Douglas and Beyond   about Nevada
1948	Dave Breternitz	Received Emil W. Haury Award from Southwest Parks and Monuments Association for 50 ears spent in archaeological research in national parks and monuments in west
1946	Ed and Mary Ann Pavela Hamilton	9 who care award
1955	Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall	Author, Cosmic Canines, The Complete Astrology Guide for You and Your Dog, journalist, bank consultant
1944	Doris Shirley Auger Davis	Author, Flower of the Nile
1958	May Wilmore Shaw	9 who care award, Girl Scouts
1956	Ned Cochran	Author, Bing, the early years 1903-1940
1959	Max Power	Rhodes Scholar 1963
1959	Charles Steveson	Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, Harvard
1959	Robert Schleif	Molecular biologist, Johns Hopkins, DNA
1936	Louis Wilson Menk	President of St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, President of Burlington Lines railroad, led merger of Burlington Northern, chairman of BN board
1960	Martha DeWitt Nakajima	First female Japanese Language Officer in the Foreign Service
1950	Bama Glass	NFL Referee
1945	Roscoe L. Davidson	Superintendent of Englewood School District, Colorado Superintendent of the year
1934	Bob McWilliams	Longest serving judge in Colorado history, Chief Justice of Colorado Supreme Court, 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
1941	Phyllis Daniel	Honored by Union Councils for Soviet Jews for activism on behalf of Jewish survival in Soviet Union
1955	Nancy Greibel Spence	Colorado State Representtive and Senator, Cherry Creek School Board
1952	Robert Deming	Robert H. and Beverly Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at CU
1939	Irene West Larson	First chair of Arvada Center for Arts and Humanities, Arvada Center scholarship in her name
1938	Sylvester A. Moorhead	Dean of University of Mississippi School of Education 25 years
1948	Mercer Cross	Editor, Congressional Quarterly Magazine, LA Times Washington Bureau, National Geographic News Service
1938	Ralph Wayne McCleary	Rockwell Internatioal developing P-51 Mustang, B-25 Bomber, F-86, F-100 fighters, X-15 rocket, XB-70 Supersonic bomber
1952	Larry Jordan	Professor at San Francisco Art Institute, films exhibited at Whitney Museum of American Art, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian, has numerous film festival awards, co-founder of Camera Obscura Film Society
1956	James Knight	College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, head of school of architecture at Oklahoma University
	Virginia Berkeley	CEO of Colorado Business Bank (research)
1953	Victor J Ross	Author of Bite the Wall and The Forbidden Apple, Sex in the Schools, Aurora Superintendent of Schools
1945	Eleanor Mosher Fader	Author, This Way to Glory
1945	Wayne Knox	Longest serving Colorado state representative as of 1996
1946	Gaspar Perricone	Jefferson County District Judge, Northwestern U football MVP, Big 8 official
1960	Neil Hutcheson	Played baseball with Boston Red Sox