COFFEEVILLE, Ala. — A Coffeeville couple who spent their lives championing education will now help University of Alabama students pay for theirs through a new Kornegay scholarship. The University of Alabama National Alumni Association has celebrated the endowment of the James L. Kornegay Jr. and Sara P. Kornegay Memorial NAA Endowed Scholarship, a new UA scholarship established by the association’s Clarke County Chapter in memory of the pair.
For the small Clarke County town of Coffeeville, the honor carries a particular meaning. Sara Kornegay was the driving force behind the community’s first public library, and her husband, a World War II Navy veteran, built a career as an educator that began in Coffeeville’s own schools.
A New Scholarship From the Clarke County Chapter
The scholarship was established by the Clarke County Chapter of the National Alumni Association to support future UA students. It was one of 25 new alumni scholarships whose official endowment the NAA celebrated during its annual scholarship endowment dinner on Sept. 4.
An endowed scholarship works differently from a one-time award. The money raised to create it is invested, and the earnings are used to provide scholarships year after year, so the fund can continue to help students long after it is established. Local NAA chapters raise money for scholarships, and many of those funds carry the names of people who were important to their communities.
Representatives of the Clarke County Chapter who attended the September dinner included chapter President Carmen Rotch, Angela Dean Morrison, Amy Dean Kennedy, Toni Vaughn and Kayla Vaughn.
Sara Kornegay and Coffeeville’s First Library
Sara Pierson Kornegay was known in Coffeeville for her dedication to education and to community service. She devoted considerable time to local schools and civic organizations, and she was instrumental in establishing the first Coffeeville Public Library.
Born in Tuscaloosa in 1927, she graduated from Central Wesleyan boarding school and completed a year of college. In Coffeeville, she owned and operated her own beauty shop. She later worked as a secretary and bookkeeper for Bibb County Schools and as a bookkeeper at the Central Alabama Easter Seal Rehabilitation Center in Montgomery.
Her service extended well beyond the workplace. She taught Sunday School and Bible School, directed choirs at First Baptist Church in Coffeeville and served as Worthy Matron in the Order of the Eastern Star. Friends and family knew her as a “go to” person for helping others.
Her work to open a public library was a significant contribution to a small town. Coffeeville, established in 1817 and named for Gen. John Coffee, sits on high ground east of the Tombigbee River in northwestern Clarke County. Its population was 263 at the 2020 census. In communities of that size, a local library is often one of the few places where residents of all ages can borrow books, find information and gather — and it frequently exists only because a determined volunteer made it happen.
Sara Kornegay died in February 2021 at the age of 94.
James L. Kornegay Jr.: From Submarines to the Schoolhouse
James L. Kornegay Jr. was also a lifelong advocate for education. He is believed to have been the first in his family line to graduate from high school and college.
Before he started college, he served his country. Kornegay spent four years in the U.S. Navy’s submarine service during World War II. Submarine duty was among the most demanding and dangerous assignments of the war, and the men who served in it were all volunteers.
After the war, he enrolled at the University of Alabama in 1946. Like many returning veterans of his generation, he entered college in the years when the GI Bill was opening higher education to millions of former service members. He went on to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from UA.
His career in education started in Coffeeville. He taught and coached football at Coffeeville High School, and his 1955 team was dubbed state champions. He became a principal there in 1956 and served until 1964.
Kornegay later became superintendent of education in Bibb County. He was recognized as an innovator in education and was responsible for opening the Bibb County Vocational School, which continues to serve students today. Vocational schools like it give high school students hands-on training in trades and technical skills, preparing them to enter the workforce or continue their education after graduation.
He died in 2016. The couple had been married for 72 years, since January 1944.
A Family Tradition at the Capstone
The couple’s connection to the University of Alabama extended well beyond James Kornegay’s two degrees. All four of their children graduated from UA. Six of their 10 grandchildren are UA graduates, and one great-grandson has also earned a degree from the university.
That multigenerational link makes the scholarship a fitting tribute. It will help future students attend the same university that shaped the Kornegay family for three generations.
Highlights of the Kornegays’ lives include:
- January 1944: James and Sara Kornegay marry.
- World War II: James Kornegay serves four years in the U.S. Navy submarine service.
- 1946: He enrolls at the University of Alabama, later earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
- 1955: His Coffeeville High School football team is dubbed state champions.
- 1956–1964: He serves as principal in Coffeeville.
- Later career: He becomes Bibb County’s superintendent of education and opens the Bibb County Vocational School.
- In Coffeeville: Sara Kornegay leads the effort to establish the town’s first public library.
- Sept. 4, 2026: The National Alumni Association celebrates the endowment of the James L. Kornegay Jr. and Sara P. Kornegay Memorial NAA Endowed Scholarship.
About the National Alumni Association
The University of Alabama National Alumni Association connects UA graduates and supporters through chapters across Alabama and beyond. Scholarships are a central part of its work, and its chapters raise money to help students attend the university.
The Clarke County Chapter’s decision to honor the Kornegays reflects that local focus. Through the new endowment, a couple who helped build a library in Coffeeville and schools in Bibb County will continue to support education for years to come.