Sidney Lanier lived in Montgomery for a time in the years following the Civil War. In 1910, a high school in downtown Montgomery had been established and named to honor Lanier and his love of poetry, music, and teaching. After a decision was made to consolidate the county high schools into one building, they chose to continue to honor Lanier by placing his name on the new building.
Lanier was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1842. During the Civil War he contracted tuberculosis in a Federal prison and it led to his death at age 39 in 1882.
The following excerpt from the biography on the poets.org site tells of the poetry for which he is remembered:
"In 1874, Lanier published his poem "Corn," which earned him many admirers, one of whom, Bayard Taylor, commissioned the poet to write the cantata for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The next few years were poetically his most productive. He wrote "The Song of the Chattahoochee," "A Song of Love," and "The Marshes of Glynn," his most celebrated poem. An offer to teach English literature brought him to Baltimore, Maryland, and in 1879, Lanier was appointed lecturer at Johns Hopkins University.
Having grown quite feeble by late 1880, he penned his last poem, "Sunrise," and months later, on September 7, 1881, the poet died in Lynn, North Carolina, with his wife and family at his side, at the age of thirty-nine.
By his wife’s efforts following his death, Sidney Lanier’s poems were collected and published in a single volume, from which his readership grew. A fondness for the poet seems to exist most deeply in the South, where he is commemorated by Lake Lanier in central Georgia, and the Sidney Lanier Bridge, the state’s largest cable-stayed bridge, which opened in 2003 in Brunswick, Georgia." source: (
visit link)
There is an Alabama Historical Marker in front of the school. It reads as follows:
"Established in 1910 on South McDonough Street, this school was named for the well-known southern poet, Sidney Lanier, who resided in Montgomery 1866-67.
This late Gothic Revival building was constructed 1928-29 to consolidate the original Lanier & Montgomery County (Cloverdale) High Schools. The name of the new school was decided by the outcome of the football game between the two schools in the fall of 1929. Frederick Ausfeld was the architect, Algernon Blair the contractor & consultants from Columbia University were called in to ensure that the building incorporated all the latest educational innovations & requirements. The building opened for classes in September 1929 & was dubbed "The Million Dollar School" due to its approximate cost.
Lanier is recognized throughout Alabama & the Southeast as a model for academic excellence & for its tradition of intellectual integrity & scholastic accomplishment."
Due to the fact that this is a public high school, one should consider limiting visits to non-school hours during the day.