Forestine Watson Haynes

Forestine was born and raised in Chattanooga where she attended public school from elementary through high school. Starting with Calvin Donaldson elementary in Alton Park to East Fifth Street & Clara Carpenter. She was among that first group of Black students who entered the halls of the hand me down structure formerly called Chattanooga City High School & renamed Riverside Jr. and senior high school. Graduating with honors and among the top ten (out of 400+ seniors) from Riverside in 1969. After leaving state employment, Forestine’s second professional position was as the Public Guardian for Southeast Tennessee serving as a court appointed conservator for the disadvantaged aged throughout a nine county service area. She was one of only two Black PGs within the state. The other being appointed to serve Memphis/Shelby county. Forestine left the guardianship program in 1990 to pursue a law degree. As a divorced single mother of two employment was essential to the wellbeing of her family so she worked full time as a housing planner for the Southeast Tennessee Development District and commuted three days a week to attend the Nashville School of Law. In 1999 Forestine was chosen to lead the 28th Legislative District Community Development Corporation as its Executive Director. During her tenure with the 28th she engaged in the development of affordable housing (both rehab & new construction); presented the first economic development conference in the city attended by individuals from across the country. This turned out to be the impetus for the city of Chattanooga to begin holding economic development conferences for several years to follow. But one of her most notable accomplishments during this time was the development of the $2.5 million dollar residential and commercial mixed use project in downtown Chattanooga located on MLK boulevard in 2007. Forestine was raised to believe you are blessed to be a blessing to others. Upon retirement in 2010 she was appointed to serve on the city’s Beer & Wrecker Board for a three year term. During this time she also worked on a volunteer basis to implement the Affordable Care Act throughout the region.

“All good & perfect things come from the Lord”. Therefore whatever I have been blessed to do, accomplish or endeavor it has been by the grace & favor of the Creator beginning with the parents he assigned to my life. To raise me, develop me and to be an influence for how I would traverse through my life. In the infamous words of Forrest Gump “ life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” Put another way sometimes things don’t always work out as you may have wanted but in the scheme of things chocolate is still a good thing. That’s how it’s been for me. When I was in school I was always studious. Graduating in the top ten (#7) of my senior year. There was never a time that I did not see myself going to college. I was admitted in 1969 to the first Freshman class of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (the year the University of Chattanooga merged with the University of Tennessee). It was a culture shock coming out of the predominantly Black Riverside High School to an overwhelmingly white college. And it wasn’t smooth sailing to be honest. I recall sitting in one class as the only Black student in the room as the instructor referenced the advances of the “Nigras”. Another time I and one other Riverside graduate was asked to meet with the professor at which time she lauded us for doing so well in her class. I’d received a “B” for the course and the other person ( who happened to have been the Salutatorian of our graduating class) had received an “A”. This professor mistakenly assumed we’d graduated from either City or Central high school. We very proudly stated no, Riverside High. There was an undertone to her assumption that because we excelled in her class we had to have been taught in a “white school .”