Teacher finds 1923 Mt. Juliet High diploma

Mt. Juliet High School opened six years ago, but it will soon have a 1923 diploma on display on campus.

West Wilson Middle School teacher Michele Agee found the diploma while shopping with a friend at Alexandria Hardware Plumbing & Variety this summer. The diploma, which was bestowed to a Gladys Wilkerson, is now at West Wilson Middle, and Principal Wendell Marlowe intends to bring it to Mt. Juliet Principal Mel Brown.

“We’ll have it somewhere in front. We want youngsters to see it because anytime you find history it’s good,” Brown said.

Agee uncovered the diploma going through the thrift section of the store. Co-owner Cathy Quarles recalled buying the diploma along with other household items at a home in Smithville.

Quarles felt Agee “could do more with it than I could” and donated the diploma, already in a frame.

“The county has a lot of new schools, and I just thought this would be a piece of history in a new building,” Agee said. “I think to myself, ‘I would love to have my great-grandmother’s diploma.’ I think things like that are important.”

Reach Andy Humbles at 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @AndyHumbles.