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Clinton High School in Clinton,
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
, is the
Anderson County, Tennessee Anderson County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the northern part of the state in East Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 77,123. Its county seat ...
, high school that serves students living in and near Clinton, Oliver Springs, and Claxton. As of 2024 students at the school are about 88 percent white and 12 percent other groups including blacks and hispanics.


History

1806 Union Academy, a state-sponsored institution, was chartered for Anderson County. 1820s Union Academy began operations. A wooden structure was built on South Main Street in Clinton. 1860s Union Academy was destroyed by fire during the American Civil War. 1868 A new Union Academy was constructed on the present site of Clinton Elementary School. 1895 The newly established Clinton City School system took over operations of the Academy building. By this time, the Academy was already being referred to as Clinton High School. 1903 A new brick Clinton High School was built on the current location of Clinton Elementary School. 1916–17 The first basketball teams were formed at Clinton High School (Men's & Women's). 1923–24 The first football team was organized at Clinton High School. They were known as the Orange and Black “Tornadoes.” 1927 A new high school building, which consolidated CHS with several county schools, was opened at the current location of Clinton Middle School. The city school system turned over operations of CHS to the county school system. At some point, the mascot was changed to “Dragons.” 1954 Clinton High School first
accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees ap ...
(SACS). 1956 Clinton High School is integrated under federal court order. Protests ensue. The Clinton 12, as the school's black students were known endure threats and attacks. The school is destroyed by dynamite (See Integration below) 1958 On Sunday, October 5, the school was blown apart by three massive explosions. 1958–60 CHS students were transported to Oak Ridge to continue classes while the school was rebuilt. 1963 Plans were presented to consolidate several elementary schools, create 2 junior high schools, and construct a new Clinton Senior High School for grades 10-12. 1968–69 Clinton Senior High School was completed. 1977 Vocational programs were offered to CSHS students as the Anderson County Center of Occupational Development was opened. 1989 With the new addition of a library, science labs, a cafeteria, and several new classrooms, the 9th grade was moved to CSHS which again became Clinton High School. (Clinton Junior High School and Norwood Junior High School became middle schools.)


Integration

In January 1956, federal judge Robert L. Taylor ordered Clinton High School to desegregate with "all deliberate speed" in accordance with the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
's 1954 ruling in ''
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...
''. On August 27, 1956, 12 African-American students became the first to integrate a previously all-white school in Tennessee. Anti-integration campaigners from inside and outside Clinton protested the decision to integrate the school. They were encouraged by New Jersey
white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...
John Kasper and Asa Carter both of whom spoke publicly in Clinton on September 1, 1956, against integration. After violence was narrowly averted on the lawn of the Anderson County Courthouse on September 1,
National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...
troops were called into the city for two months to keep order. The protests resulted in a jury trial for criminal contempt, and seven of ten defendants were convicted. The twelve
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
students who attended Clinton High School that fall became known as " The Clinton 12". On the morning of each school day, they walked together down Broad Street from Foley Hill to Clinton High. On the morning of December 4, 1956, Rev. Paul Turner, the white minister of the First Baptist Church, was severely beaten after escorting the twelve students to school. The twelve students were Jo Ann Boyce (née Allen), Bobby Cain, Theresser Caswell, Minnie Ann Jones (née Dickey), Gail Ann Upton (née Epps), Ronald Hayden, William Latham, Alvah J. Lambert (née McSwain), Maurice Soles, Robert Thacker, Regina Smith (née Turner), and Alfred Williams. Early in the morning of October 5, 1958, the Clinton High School building was severely damaged by a series of
dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...
explosions. An estimated 75 to 100 sticks of dynamite had been placed in three locations in the building. No one was injured, but school officials estimated damages at $300,000. While the school was rebuilt, Clinton High School students were bused to Oak Ridge where the school operated in the recently vacated building that had housed Linden Elementary School. Clinton High School reopened in its own building in 1960. On February 10, 2006, Williams, Cain, from Foley Hill to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 integration. A
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
statue of the "Clinton Twelve" is now displayed outside a newly remodeled front entrance to the former Green McAdoo School, where the twelve students had attended
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
. In February 2016,
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and sister network
Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...
aired a short for
Black History Month Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...
. In the short, Disney star Cameron Boyce, the grandson of Jo Ann Boyce, one of the Clinton 12 students, talked about the school. The short also featured his grandmother, Jo Ann Boyce. The documentar
The Clinton 12
is a historical review of these events, and was aired widely on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
in 2008 and 2009. The members of the Clinton 12 were inducted into the Clinton High School Wall of Fame in 2005 (Bobby Cain), 2007 (Gail Ann Epps Upton) and 2010.


Athletics

Clinton Dragons compete in TSSAA Class AAAAA of Region 3 in Football. They compete in Class TSSAA AAA in the following sports: *Baseball *Men's Basketball *Women's Basketball *Fishing *Football *Men's Golf *Women’s Golf *Softball *Men's Soccer *Women's Soccer *Track and Field *Volleyball *Wrestling


Environment

The school is also home to a prototype solar-powered classroom called the "Net-Zero Building". The small classroom, built by students under the direction of teacher Riley Sain, allows students to watch movies and more using the power of the sun. The school has also received multiple grants from various organizations, including the TWRA, to remove rip-rap from the creek in front of the school in an effort to return it to its natural state.


Notable alumni

* Charles McRae, former
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...
and
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
lineman * Larry Seivers, former
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...
and
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
wide receiver * Bobby Cain, a member of the Clinton 12 and the first African American student to graduate from a court-ordered state-supported high school in the South. https://www.knoxvilledailysun.com/news/2022/february/clinton-twelve.html. * Tony Colston, football player


References


External links


Clinton High School official websiteInformation on Marching and Concert bandsCHS Class of 1964Clinton Desegregation Crisis
in ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' * * * {{authority control 1903 establishments in Tennessee Educational institutions established in 1903 African-American history of Tennessee Public high schools in Tennessee Schools in Anderson County, Tennessee School segregation in the United States