Episode 10: With All Deliberate Speed

In 1957, a pivotal moment unfolded at Clinton High School in Anderson County, Tennessee. Following the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court, this public school would become the first in the state to integrate. Amidst a backdrop of racial tension and societal division, twelve Black students emerged as trailblazers, courageously enrolling in what was previously an all-white school. The collective determination of Jo Ann Allen, Bobby Cain, Anna Theresser Caswell, Gail Ann Epps, Minnie Ann Dickey, Ronald Gordon Hayden, William Latham, Alvah Jay McSwain, Maurice Soles, Robert Thacker, Regina Turner, and Alfred Williams redefined history. Met with vehement resistance and hostility, these students exhibited remarkable resilience. Their resolute actions, rooted in the unwavering pursuit of equality and equity and supported by many in the community, cast a glaring light on the injustices of segregation, sparking a transformative catalyst for societal change that school after school would follow throughout the state and the country.