This episode takes us to the town of Clinton in the eastern part of the state. Following the pivotal U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, a judge ordered the desegregation of Clinton High School. On August 26, 1956, a group of African American students – the Clinton 12 – attended their first day of class, marking the first integration of a public high school in the South. What began as a seemingly peaceful transition quickly evolved into a threatening uproar. We follow a few of the stories of the Clinton 12, including Bobby Cain, who on May 17, 1957, became the first African American student to graduate from an integrated public high school in the South.
This episode takes us to the town of Clinton in the eastern part of the state. Following the pivotal U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, a judge ordered the desegregation of Clinton High School. On August 26, 1956, a group of African American students – the Clinton 12 – attended their first day of class, marking the first integration of a public high school in the South. What began as a seemingly peaceful transition quickly evolved into a threatening uproar. We follow a few of the stories of the Clinton 12, including Bobby Cain, who on May 17, 1957, became the first African American student to graduate from an integrated public high school in the South.
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The episode features the voices and perspectives of: