The Webb School is a private coeducational college preparatory boarding and day school in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, founded in 1870. It has been called the oldest continuously operating boarding school in the South.
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Mission
As expressed by William R. Webb, the school's mission is "To turn out young people who are tireless workers and who know how to work effectively; who are accurate scholars, who know the finer points of morals and practice them in their daily living; who are always courteous [without the slightest trace of snobbery]." (Bracketed text was removed from the official mission of the school in the late 20th century but is commonly added to oral recitations by faculty and students.)
History
William R. "Sawney" Webb started the Webb School as a school for boys in Culleoka, Tennessee, in 1870. He was joined by his brother, John M. Webb, in 1873.
After Vanderbilt University was founded in 1873, Webb School's "oldest and best boys" were able to enroll.
Webb moved the school from Culleoka to its present-day location, a 145-acre campus in the small town of Bell Buckle, in 1886 after Culleoka incorporated and legalized the sale of alcohol in the new city.
Sawney Webb's son W. R. Webb Jr., known as "Son Will", joined the school as a teacher in 1897 and became co-principal of the school with his father and uncle in 1908, unable to establish his own career. After their deaths (John Webb died in 1916 of a stroke and Sawney Webb in 1926 of old age), he became headmaster and remained in that position until his retirement in 1952.
Webb began admitting girls as boarding students in 1973, but earlier in its history Webb had allowed local girls to attend as day students.
Notable alumni
L. Desaix Anderson: career United States Foreign Service officer specializing in East Asian affairs, and former American Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to Vietnam
Byron De La Beckwith, Ku Klux Klansman convicted of the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers
William West Bond: attorney and Speaker of the Tennessee State Senate (1921-1923)
Lewis M. Branscomb: professor emeritus at Harvard Kennedy School
Hayne D. Boyden: Naval aviator and Brigadier general, USMC
Edward Ward Carmack: attorney, newspaper editor, and U.S. Senator (Tennessee)
Robert Collins: American physician and pathologist
Prentice Cooper: governor of Tennessee, 1939-1945
Paul Craft: American country singer-songwriter
Scott Crichton (class of 1972): associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, 2015-2025
Zach Curlin: American football and basketball player and coach
Ewin L. Davis: chairman of the Federal Trade Commission
Norman H. Davis: chairman of the American Red Cross; U.S. diplomat at 1918 Versailles Conference and 1933 Geneva Conference
Harold Earthman: member of the U.S. House of Representatives
Related schools
Sawney Webb's son and grandson later established The Webb Schools in Claremont, California, and the Webb School of Knoxville in Knoxville, Tennessee, respectively.