Clinton 12 legacy honored
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Jerry Shattuck, Clinton High School football team captain, spoke at First Baptist Church at an event honoring the Clinton 12. - Judy Roitman
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Minnie Ann Dickie Jones, a member of the Clinton 12, spoke at an event at First Baptist Church about her experiences as one of the first Black students to enter a formerly all-white school in the Southeast. - Judy Roitman
It’s the 70th anniversary of the Clinton 12 entering Clinton High School, a milestone for civil rights, not just in Clinton but for the whole country.
In August 1956, these Black students were the first to attend a municipal public school in the South, although the federally-run Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High School desegregated the previous year.
Two events marked the anniversary of the Clinton 12 in Clinton on Saturday Aug. 29.
First Baptist Church screened a documentary about the Clinton 12 to a crowd of more than 170 people.
Speaking at the event were Clinton 12 member Minnie Ann Dickie; Jerry Shattuck, the 1950s Clinton High School Dragons football team captain; and Alan Jones, pastor ar First Baptist Church.
“There was a great turnout,” said Amanda Taylor, who helped organize the event. “I was thrilled that we had so many people associated with the Clinton 12 there.”
Taylor said she wanted to honor the sacrifices the Clinton 12 and others made, facing opposition, to work for the betterment of Clinton and the whole nation.
“It was not an easy time for those 12 to go through,” she said. “Really, our town went through a lot of trauma.”
That evening, the Green McAdoo Center held a concert featuring Evelyn Jack and the Band.
Scarboro 85
The earlier desegregations of Oak Ridge Schools got its own moment to shine a few days later with the groundbreaking for the Scarboro 85 monument in A.K. Bissell Park on Thursday, Sept. 3.
John Spratling, president of the Scarboro 85 Monument Foundation, which has managed the fundraising for the monument, said construction will take eight months.
The monument will honor the first 85 Black students to desegregate Oak Ridge Schools on Sept. 6, 1955, entering Robertsville Junior High and Oak Ridge High School. Some of them were present for the groundbreaking alongside government officials and Oak Ridge church leaders.
“It’s a proud moment to finally see dirt getting ready to be moved,” Spratling said, adding it was a great day for the city of Oak Ridge, the state of Tennessee, the United States and the world, and something to share with everybody. “I’m so happy. It’s like a jubilee.”
Spratling said he grew up around Scarboro 85 members and they paved the way for many, including himself as a basketball coach and social studies teacher.
The monument, managed by the Scarboro 85 Monument Foundation, has multiple sources of funding, among them $125,000 from Anderson County approved by the County Commission.
Spratling listed other sources of funding, including $125,000 from the city of Oak Ridge, $3.2 million from the state of Tennessee and $1.5 million from an anonymous donor, among others.
