A labor of love unveiled
Historical marker commemorates the Rev. Paul W. Turner
First Baptist Church, Clinton, Senior Pastor Danny Chisholm stands beside the histor- ical marker commemorating the late Rev. Paul Turner and his role in the desegregation of Clinton High School in 1956. (photo:Ken Leinart )
Sunday afternoon, a state historical marker honoring the late Rev. Paul Turner was unveiled in front of First Baptist Church in downtown Clinton.
“Everyone knows the story of the Rev. Turner,” Danny Chisholm, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, said after the marker was unveiled.
Turner took a stand in 1956 when Clinton High School desegregated.
He walked with the 12 African American students down Foley Hill to Clinton High School.
He was met with derision and violence. It was after he was beaten by a group of segregationists that Turner preached, “There is no color line at the cross of Jesus,” the Sunday after the attack.
Getting the historical marker was, as Chisholm noted, a labor of love.
But it took more than love to get the task completed.
“We formed a committee and we worked through that,” Chisholm said. “It took two or three years. We worked with the state historical society and we wanted to get the wording right for the marker.
“And you know that if you do something with the state, it takes a long time.”
But Sunday the efforts of that work, of that process, were unveiled.
“It took somebody who wants to push it,” Chisholm said of the marker. “It has been a labor of love.”