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'A father, a counselor and a friend': Dublin High School names media center after long-time administrator

The media center is now named in memory of long time District Administrator Charles Manning.

DUBLIN, Ga. — Not too long ago, Dublin City Schools Media Center got a new name. 

Not just any name though, the center is now named in memory of long time District Administrator Charles Manning.

The district says he not only had an impact on Dublin schools, but the whole city. 

"Mr. Manning was the man," Earnest Wade Jr. said.

"He was a very humble person, but loved doing what he could to help others," Marisa Manning said. 

"One of the most well loved principals that's ever been in our community, by everybody," Scott Thompson said.

In 1959, Charles Manning moved to Dublin to become the Oconee High School principal.

Oconee High was Laurens County's main school for African Americans.

"When I came to Dublin, Mr. Manning called me and wanted to give me a job. I came, and I accepted that at the high school." Wade said. 

Wade was one of the 13 incoming teachers hired that year.

He says Manning treated every one of them as if they were his own.

"He would make arrangements for you to get gas for your car, he would make arrangements for you to eat, to sustain yourself until you got your first check. He was not only an administrator. He was a father, a counselor and a friend," he said.

"In his 40, 50 years here, he made a tremendous difference, not only in the community, but in the students he mentored," Scott Thompson, Dublin historian, said.

Thompson says Manning was the first African American recreational department board member, St. Patrick's Day Committee member, and judge in Lauren's County. He also helped integrate Dublin City Schools.

"My dad didn't talk a lot about it with us, so a lot of what I came to know, was later on in life. Now, I look back like, wow my dad did that," Marisa Manning said.

Charles passed away at 98 years old in September 2020. Shortly after that, Dublin High School renamed their media center in honor of him.

Marisa says her father would be proud to know how loved he is by Dublin. 

"He's like a little kid. He wouldn't say anything. He'd just be sitting there with his hands in his lap, smiling. He would be beaming, and I know he is beaming," Manning said.

Marisa, Thompson and Wade all say Charles deserves this recognition because he loved his community, and that his legacy will live on.

Charles also has a street named after him by where Oconee High School used to be.

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