CLINTON, Tenn. (WATE) — The Green McAdoo Cultural Center is honoring the Clinton 12 – the students who desegregated the first public high school in the South, for the 65th anniversary of their historic walk and why that August day remains a significant event.

On Aug. 27, 1956, 12 Black students walked into, at the time, all-white Clinton High School.

On Saturday, Aug. 28th, the Green McAdoo Cultural Center will be commemorating the 65th anniversary of the 12 brave Clintonians walking down Foley Hill to desegregate Clinton High School and the American South.   

Six of the Clinton 12 were part of a commemorative march in 2019.

The center is honoring: Maurice Soles, Anna Theresser Caswell, Alfred Williams, Regina Turner-Smith, William R. Latham, Gail Ann Epps Upton, Ronald Gordon “Poochie” Hayden, JoAnn Crozier Allen Boyce, Robert Thacker, Bobby Cain, and Minnie Ann Dickey Jones by walking down Foley Hill to what is now Clinton Middle School, making the same trek those brave students made back in 1956.   

Along with the walk, the center is hosting an educational fair in the gymnasium from 12:00-1:45 p.m. The fair will feature representatives from different colleges in the area, as well as other resources for families and students. The center also plans to have someone on-site to help answer questions about FAFSA for outgoing seniors and their families.   

The walk will start at 2 p.m. from the Green McAdoo Cultural Center and it will end at Clinton Middle School where Highlander Center Director, Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson will speak on the importance of the day.

The Green McAdoo Cultural Center is a museum dedicated to the telling of their story. A dozen life-sized statues depicting the students’ march into the school stands outside the center.