It would be an impossible task to list all the people who have brought prestige and laurels to Austin-East Magnet High School in big and small ways. And no wonder; with the school preparing to celebrate 145 years of serving the East Knoxville community, it has produced generations of graduates who have gone on to lead local government, record history, produce prize-winning writing and win sports fame.

Here is a list of some notable Austin-East alums who have excelled in their chosen fields, both around Knoxville and beyond, and a look at the timeline of an educational institution that traces its own history back to multiple other schools.

Robert Booker

Booker was synonymous with Knoxville’s Civil Rights Movement and a historian. He played a pivotal role in the integration of the historic Tennessee Theatre in 1963 during his time as a student at Knoxville College. Booker died Feb. 22 at the age of 88. He also served as a city councilman and was the city’s first Black Tennessee state representative.

Bianca Belair

Belair, a WWE superstar, was a state champion track athlete at Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville before competing at the University of South Carolina and Texas A&M University. Her life is now the focus of a new reality show with her husband, Montez Ford, on Hulu.

Daniel Brown

Brown was the first Black mayor of Knoxville, serving from Jan. 10, 2011, to Dec. 17, 2011, elected to serve out the unexpired term of former Mayor Bill Haslam, who resigned to become governor of Tennessee. Brown is also a Vietnam War veteran.

Beauford and Joseph Delaney

The Delaney brothers’ artistic contributions to the world cannot be measured in words. Both brothers emerged in the art world during the Harlem Renaissance, a period of Black art’s revival during the 1930s. A museum devoted to the brothers – Delaney Museum – is planned on Dandridge Avenue.

Joe Fishback

Fishback is a former football player in the National Football League, where he played for the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys. He became a star at Carson-Newman University. He was inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Nikki Giovanni

Giovanni has won multiple NAACP Image Awards, the American Book Award, more than two dozen honorary degrees and she’s a New York Times bestselling author. Her work is extensive, from volumes of poetry to essays to many children’s books, including “Rosa,” a biography of Rosa Parks.

Diane Jordan

Jordan was the first Black woman elected to the Knox County Commission. She served from 1994 to 2007.

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Dwight Lewis

Dwight Lewis served as a journalist for The Tennessean as a reporter, editor and columnist for 40 years. He has interviewed notable personalities, such as civil rights hero U.S. Rep. John Lewis and James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr.

Raleigh and Reggie McKenzie

Raleigh McKenzie is a former Washington Commanders player. During school, he played as linebacker and offensive line and then linebacker and center at the University of Tennessee.

Reggie McKenzie is a prominent football figure as a player and front-office executive. He played linebacker at the University of Tennessee and for the Los Angeles Raiders. He earned a Super Bowl ring as director of football operations for the Green Bay Packers, served as general manager for the Raiders and is now senior personnel executive for the Miami Dolphins.

Sam McKenzie

He is a Democrat and state representative from Knoxville. He assumed office in January 2021. He spent more than 30 years working at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and has served as a Knox County commissioner for eight years. Reggie and Sam McKenzie are brothers.

LeRoy Thompson

Thompson was the president and chief manager of BDT Development & Management. The former NFL player also served as executive director of Wesley House Community Center, which serves the Beaumont, Lonsdale and Mechanicsville neighborhoods.

Carl Torbush

He spent 42 years working as a college football coach. He was the only white football player in the first graduating class at Austin-East. He played football at Carson-Newman from 1971 to 1973 and baseball in 1973, and was an NAIA All-American in both sports.

Elston Turner

He was a part of the team that led the Roadrunners to their first AAA state basketball championship in 1977 under legendary coach Clifford Ross. He has also hosted a youth summer basketball camp at his alma mater A-E for years. He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the 1981 NBA draft, with the 43rd pick overall.

The history of Austin-East

1876

Free public education began for Black students in Knoxville in 1876, five years after Knoxville’s citizens voted in 1871 for free public schools.

A June 8 article in the Knoxville Chronicle referred to “Colored School” on Central Street, which had recently been “purchased or leased.”

1879

Emily Austin established Austin School at 327 Central Ave. to serve the region’s Black schoolchildren. She also opened a trade school and the Slater School on Payne Avenue in 1885. J.S. Fowler was named the inaugural principal of Austin School on June 13, 1879. His tenure lasted until 1881.

1891

Emily Austin gave control of the school to the American Missionary Association of the Congressional Church.

1915

Knoxville Colored High School was completed on Sept. 23 at 901 Payne Ave. The building included a new addition to the existing Green School that was built in 1909.

1916

On June 2, the commencement of the last graduating class of Austin High School on Central Street was held at Staub’s Theater.

1926

Construction began for Austin High School’s new building on Vine Avenue.

1928

The new Austin High School was completed at 1401 Vine Ave. and Knoxville Colored High was renamed Green School. The new Austin High School was dedicated on Oct. 18.

1929

The city built a new Austin High School on East Vine Avenue.

1951

East High School was built on McCalla Avenue.

1968

Austin-East High School in its present form was born with the merger of Knoxville East and Austin High Schools at 2800 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, where the school is still located. The mascot’s name was changed from Panthers to Roadrunners and the school’s colors changed from orange and blue to scarlet and Columbia blue. The old Austin High School became Vine Middle School.

1978

The Austin High Alumni Association was founded and tasked with organizing the school’s centennial celebrations the following year.

1979

The school community held its centennial celebration on July 7, 1979. Otis Hogue, who was the school’s principal from 1949 up to its merger in 1968, was in attendance.

1989

Charles Mathes, a teacher at Austin High School and Austin-East High School for more than 25 years, advocated for years renaming East Vine and McCalla avenues after civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1989, the name was officially changed, giving Austin-East High School a new address on the newly renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.

1997

The school was designated as Knox County’s only performing arts magnet high school for its quality dance, music, arts and theater programs.

2018

It was the start of a new tradition that’s held near and dear to not just the school community, but all of East Knoxville − the Pre-Prom Stop. It has since become an annual tradition.

The event gives teenagers an opportunity to show off their meticulously put together outfits at a fashion show, cheered on by their community, before dancing the night away at prom.

2019

The year marked the school’s 140-year anniversary.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: See Austin-East High School’s notable alumni and its 145-year history