William Henry Oliver referred to himself as a "school man," spending 35 years as a teacher, principal, and superintendent.  Mr. Oliver's first teaching position in Nashville was at Jere Baxter High School.  He taught at Hume-Fogg and then spent the next 25 years at East Nashville High School.  At East High School, he was an English teacher for three years, assistant principal for two years, and then served as principal for the last 18 years.  In 1957, he became the superintendent of the Nashville City Schools and held this position until the Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Schools was formed in 1964.  He then became a professor at Belmont College and later at Free Will Baptist Bible College.  During his years as an educator, Mr. Oliver also continued preaching as a Free Will minister, eventually taking over his home church at Dunbar, near his birthplace of Indian Mound, Tennessee.

William Henry Oliver was noted for instilling citizenship in the students with whom he worked.  Former students remembered Mr. Oliver as a fine Christian man who lent a helping hand wherever needed.  In the Tennessean article recording his death, former Metro Councilman Tandy Wilson recalls that Mr. Oliver "did not have to paddle you, just look at you.  If you saw disappointment in his eyes, that was enough."  According to the resolution requesting that a school be named for him, Mr. Oliver was noted for his strength of character, congeniality, and compassion.

Mr. Oliver believed in kindness, smoothness, and compassion.  He always wanted his students to believe in him and he felt school teachers should lead exemplary lives.  Mr. Oliver, at age 80, in a 1983 interview, said, "I never, even today, cross the street when the sign says 'Don't Walk' because I need to set an example."  Mr. Oliver also stated in the 1983 interview, "If you really want to know me, read 'Dear Joe.'"  "Dear Joe" is a collection of letters written to his "boys" serving in World War II.  These letters originally appeared as a column in the Eagle, the school newspaper.

William H. Oliver was a man whose faith in God guided his life as a principal and superintendent.  He strongly believed in the power of prayer and felt that high school teachers guiding the lives of boys and girls needed someone praying for them.  Although he believed in kindness and compassion, Mr. Oliver recalls one student who was chronically tardy; he chewed this student out, never asking why he was tardy.  He later found out the student had been up all night protecting his mother from a drunken father.  He said if he'd asked why, he would have just said, "Boy, I am glad you're here" and sent him on to class.

With his death in May 1991 at age 87, William Henry Oliver left a legacy of gentleness and warmth to the young boys and girls of East Nashville High School and to everyone who crossed his path.  It is with sincere gratitude for his contributions to public education and the Nashville community that  we dedicate this new middle school in his name, this 28th day of October, 2004.