Morrow donates book chronicling history of Russellville City Schools to RHS Library

Through his 28 years representing Alabama House District 18 in Montgomery, Johnny Mack Morrow met many people dedicated as much as he was to improving the quality of life for everyone in Northwest Alabama.

And former Russellville City Schools Superintendent of Education Dr. Rube Courington was among those at the top of the list.

Morrow shared his memories of Courington at the February 17th meeting of the Russellville City Schools Board of Education when he presented a signed copy of Courington’s book, “A History of Russellville City Schools,” to Russellville High School Principal Norman Lier, to be donated to the Russellville High School library.

The book was given to Morrow by Courington and signed by the author and his wife.

Always a special possession for Morrow, he recently decided to donate it to the school to help Russellville students learn about the fascinating history of their school system.

When Morrow and former Sen. Roger Bedford took office in the early 1990s, they faced many challenges, none more important than improving the quality of public education.

At the time, public education lacked the financial commitment and support needed in Montgomery and Morrow and Bedford set out to change that.

When Morrow tackled how to improve public education in Franklin County, it was his first opportunity to work one on one with Courington.

Morrow’s mother Hazel knew Courington from the days they were children in Winston County, and his father Grover knew Courington from Morrow’s days as Franklin County Schools Superintendent of Education in the 1950s. So it was no surprise when Morrow reached out to Courington for his ideas about what was lacking in public education.

“Both of my parents had always talked about their friends Rube and Eloise Courington. Now I found myself working with the Courington as a member of the Alabama legislature to improve the quality of life for Franklin County,” Morrow said.

Among the laundry list of challenges facing the young legislative team of Morrow/Bedford in the early 90s were a lack of a four-lane highway connecting Franklin County to the Interstate Highway System, getting clean water for Franklin County rural residents, developing Internet infrastructure in Franklin County after the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1993, and strengthening public education in Franklin County.

“Roger and I accomplished all of these things and met all of of the challenges that we faced only because we had a lot of help from a lot of people like Rube and Eloise Courington,” Morrow said.

Courington, who served as RCS Superintendent of Education from 1961 until his retirement in 1988, wrote the book that chronicled the growth, challenges and milestones of Russellville City Schools in 1977.

Although authored by Courington, “A History of Russellville City Schools” was truly a team effort Courington said in the book’s acknowledgements, as he listed the many people who helped the massive project come together.

Courington’s experience and insight helped give Morrow and Bedford the information necessary to address the shortfalls of public education first-hand from someone who helped shape the history of the school system that employed him. Yet Courington always realized that Russellville City Schools’ history was being reshaped every day.

“All of us recognize the fact that this history is not complete. It is agreed by all who worked on it that it will need to be revised from time to time, as other bits of information about the past become available,” Courington said in his book’s acknowledgement.

When current RCS Superintendent of Education Tim Guinn spoke at the February 17th meeting, he shared his thoughts on Courington’s impact on the school system.

“As we dedicate this signed copy we do more than just honor an outstanding leader,” Guinn said. “The legacy of leadership in Russellville City Schools began in 1929. Their vision and courage shaped a school system that became a beacon in its community and across Alabama.

“And Dr. Courington’s steady leadership and dedication to public service left a lasting impact on our state,” Guinn added.

When Courington retired in 1988, he and Eloise presented Morrow with a copy of his book, signed with a special dedication ‘to our very good friend Johnny Mack Morrow.’

“By having this book in a prominent place it will help let today’s students know how important the history of their school system is,” Morrow said. “And the story continues to be written every day.”