Trinity High School — Athens’ only all-black high school until it closed after desegregation in 1970 — holds an important place in local history.

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Begun as a school to educate the children of slaves, Trinity turned out many graduates who went on to hold important positions in their communities.

While many people have heard of famed mezzo-soprano Patti Malone, a Fisk Jubilee singer in the late 1800s, and C. Eric Lincoln, an educator and author for whom Lincoln-Bridgeforth Park is named, others are not as well known.

Local resident Lt. Col. James L. Walker gathered biographies of some of these graduates as the school celebrates its annual Grand Reunion today and Saturday in Athens.

Today’s events include a picnic from noon to 5 p.m at Lincoln-Bridgeforth Park, followed by an outdoor dance from 6 to 11 p.m.

Saturday’s events include a parade at 4 p.m., leaving Lincoln-Bridgeforth Park on Washington Street, traveling around the downtown square and returning to the park. A dinner and a program will be from 6 to 11 p.m. at Limestone Event Center on Pryor Street.

For more information, call Jimmy Gill at 256-232-0591.

The following are the biographies of some selected Trinity High School graduates:

Dr. Floyd Alvin Farrar

Floyd Alvin Farrar was born in Limestone County on Nov. 15, 1927, the fourth of eight children born to Leonard and Lillian Farrar.

He attended Miller Elementary School in Athens and graduated in 1940. In September 1940, he crossed the street and began the seventh grade at Louise Allyn’s fabled Trinity High School. It was at Trinity that Floyd became an outstanding scholar. He was valedictorian of his senior class, a member of the SJS Club, Do Right Club and the Class Club. His favorite quotation while at Trinity was, “Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on the desert air.” His ambition was to be a sociologist and linguist.

After graduating in 1945, Farrar continued his studies at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., where he was awarded a bachelor’s degree in 1949. Afterward, he traveled to New Brunswick, N.J., and enrolled at Rutgers University, where he obtained a master’s degree in 1951. Not content to rest upon his laurels, Farrar journeyed to Philadelphia, Penn., the City of Brotherly Love, and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania. From there, he earned a doctorate in economics.

College teaching became his choice for a career. To this calling he devoted 35 years, ranging from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee to the New Medgar Evers College in New York City. The bulk of his career was spent teaching at various colleges in North Carolina, where he retired in 1989.

After retirement, Farrar settled in Florida and back home in Athens.

Maj. Houston Yarbrough

Houston A. Yarbrough was born in a rural part of Limestone County in 1947 to a farming and dairy family of 10 siblings.

His family diligently farmed cotton, corn beans, and a variety of fruits and vegetables. While at Trinity High School, he continued to work on his father’s farm and at the Sweet Sue Kitchens processing plant in Athens. During his senior year at Trinity, he became one of the first African-American students to enter the high school science competition at Redstone Arsenal’s Rocket Center.

After graduating from Trinity in May 1965, Yarbrough enrolled at Alabama A&M University. At A&M, the absence of financial support made life extremely tough. Almost half of his time was spent working in restaurants and hotels. He persevered, however, and graduated from college in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree. Afterward, he entered the Army.

While in the Army, Yarbrough earned a master’s degree in business administration and served in a variety of assignments, including aviation officer for the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea. During that assignment, he was directly responsive to the commander of a 42,000-person infantry division. He advised the commander and staff on all matters relating to the employment of 126 aircrafts and 275 aviators. In a later assignment at Fort Rucker, he trained more than 200 pilots at the United States Army Aviation School and was awarded the schools Certificate of Achievement for Outstanding Training and Flight Safety.

After retiring from the Army, Yarbrough established a JROTC program at Choctaw County High School in Butler and later became the senior army instructor at Athens High School before retiring.

Ross Baity, artist

The mural measured 15 by 20 feet and depicted life at Trinity during the 1940s. Shown in the mural are some of the books used by students at the school, including “The Holy Bible,” “Farmers Shop Book” and “Growing up in the Black Belt.”

Also included in the mural are titles of films used by the students including, “The Story of Dr. Carver,” “Preventing the Spread of Disease” and “This Amazing America.”

The center panel shows a white principal (probably Dr. J.T. Wright, who was the principal when the mural was painted) and eight Negro teachers and students seated around a conference table. Another panel features a student plowing a field with a red tractor. Other panels depict students dancing, watching movies and studying in the library. The dedication legend in the lower right-hand corner of the mural stated, “Ross Baity completed this Functional Education Mural under the direction of Mr. Vertis Hays of Lemoyne College and Mr. J.T. Wright of Trinity School in fulfillment of graduation requirement—1942.”

Ross Baity graduated from Trinity in 1942 and served his country in the armed services. After receiving an honorable discharge, he moved to Dayton, Ohio, to study at the Dayton Institute of Art with sculptor and commercial artist John King. He graduated with a degree in fine arts and moved to New York, where he set up a shop and sold paintings.

From New York, he moved to San Diego, where he sold paintings and put some on public display. Four of his paintings hang in the San Diego Public Library. The works, showing Martin Luther King Jr. and George Washington among others, center on the theme piecing the country together.

He was interviewed for a feature article in The News Courier in 1993. In the article he said, “The school was the center of the community. One of my fondest memories of the school is of going to ball games.”

A center panel in the mural depicts a football player tackling another player. Ross Baity is yet another Trinity role model.

Dr. Milton French

Milton French is the son of Turner and Rosie French of Athens. He attended Trinity High School and graduated with the class of 1957. He said of his time at Trinity, “I was a young person who was very shy. I was not well known but I was a pretty fair student and I received a good education at Trinity High School.”

After graduation, French enrolled at Alabama A&M College in Huntsville and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology.

After graduating from Alabama A&M, he moved to Long Beach, Calif., and began working in the oil fields. Two years later, he decided that the midnight shifts associated with oil-field work were not how he wanted to spend the rest of his life, so he enrolled in the pharmacy program at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

“There,” he said, “I discovered one of the requirements of the pharmacy program was to work in local drugs stores. I knew this meant working the midnight shift. I left the oil fields to get away from the night shift, so I switched careers and enrolled in dental school.”

After obtaining a doctor of dentistry from Harvard, French was commissioned as a captain in the United States Air Force. There, he served his country in various places throughout the nation. Upon discharge form the service, he moved to Los Angeles and established a dental practice.

French remained in Los Angeles for four years before relocating to Sacramento, Calif., where he practiced dentistry for 30 years. In 2005, he retired and continues to live in Sacramento.

Dr. Juanita Jones Wallace

Juanita Wallace is the daughter of Robert “Preacher” Jones and Haley Woodruff-Jones. She is one of four siblings born to this union. She attended Trinity High School and graduated with the class of 1964.

After graduation, Wallace enrolled at Alabama A&M University and remained there for two years. She left A&M and moved to Dayton, Ohio, where she married.

After her youngest child was about a year old, Wallace enrolled at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. She earned an undergraduate degree from Central State and continued to attend school until she had earned a master’s degree in early childhood education and another master’s degree in mid-management. In her biography, Wallace states, “My mom encouraged my sister and me to get an education so we could be independent women. Knowledge is only thing that God made that you can keep for yourself and give it to others.”

After obtaining two master’s degrees, she returned to school. In 2003, she earned a doctorate in education from Madison University. Wallace has traveled extensively and has visited Hawaii, Madrid, Brussels, Paris, Rome and Ghana in West Africa. She is presently the president of the Dallas branch of the NAACP and says she encourages “top-notch work, consistency, fairness, layered with dignity, integrity, topped with faith,” and she “expects great things from others, but I expect even greater things from myself.”

David Brown, attorney

David Brown says he “came from the bottom strata of society.”

If he did, then he made the best of his opportunities.

He attended three elementary schools in Limestone County, including South West Center. He attended Trinity High School and graduated with the class of 1964. David said of his years at Trinity, “I received a first-rate education and the faculty and staff gave every child who came through Trinity a sense of worth to do better than we thought we could do.”

After graduating from Trinity, he enrolled at Rust College in Holly Spring, Miss. After two years at Rust and at the height of the Vietnam War, he joined the Army. During a four-year tour, he served in Fort Benning, Ga., Berlin, Germany and in Vietnam. While in Vietnam, he flew Chinook helicopters, earned a Purple Heart and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After earning the rank of chief warrant officer II, he received an honorable discharge.

Back in civilian life, Brown enrolled at Clark College in Atlanta. After graduating from Clark with a major in political science, Brown enrolled in law school at North Carolina Central University in Durham. After obtaining his juris doctorate degree, he started working for the federal government in the Department of Agriculture.

While working for the federal government for 28 years, Brown obtained a master’s degree in education and completed initial studies in the field of theology at a seminary.

George Grisby, accountant

George E. Grisby attended Trinity High School and graduated with the class of 1962. While at Trinity, he was a member of the varsity football team and was a three-year letterman. He attended Tennessee State University in Nashville and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1968.

Three years later, Grigsby earned a master’s in business administration with a concentration in business management from Texas Southern University. He also completed first-year law courses at Southern California University for professional studies, concentrating in contracts, torts and criminal law.

Over the years, Grigsby has worked in a variety of positions, including assistant controller, Texas Southern University, Riverside Hospital, Exxon Company, USA, Budget Analyst and Metropolitan Transit Authority, senior internal auditor.

In 1973, he founded G.E. Grigsby CPA, a firm that offers auditing, accounting and management-consulting services to organizations in both the public and private sectors throughout the Gulf Coast (Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi). The firm also provides federal, state and local tax services.

Grigsby is a certified public accountant with more than 28 years of experience. His firm specializes in providing its clients with consistently high levels of service on a timely and cost-effective basis.