Robert E. Lee High School (Tyler, Texas)

Robert E. Lee High School is one of two Tyler Independent School District high school campuses in the city of Tyler, Texas, the other being John Tyler High School. RE Lee High School has served the East Texas community since opening in 1958 and classified as a 6A school by the UIL. In 2013, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.

Tradition

In the 1960s, when Lee's mascot was the Rebel, the school was famous for its working cannon and oversized Confederate flag. A group of seniors tended the cannon at games, firing it when the Rebel football team scored a touchdown. The football team entered Rose Stadium by running under the flag, reputed to be the second largest Confederate flag in the world (second only to one owned by the University of Mississippi). By 1972, the flag was retired and its whereabouts are unknown. The flag was retired shortly after four African-American players refused to run under the flag and ran around it instead, causing some local controversy. The cannon, retired in 1986, is now the property of Brook Hill High School in Bullard, Texas.