OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — On Monday, the Anderson County Commission voted to authorize a $125,000 donation to a new civil rights monument that honors the 85 young Black Tennessee students who were the first to desegregate public schools in the Southeastern United States.
They were also the first to desegregate sports in Southeastern public schools and universities.
“This is a wonderful move by the Anderson County Commission,” Coach John Spratling, chairman for the Scarboro 85 Monument and Celebration Committee, said. “This monument is dedicated to racial healing and national unification. The Scarboro 85 students were game-changers for America. We really appreciate the Commission’s vision and support.”
In 1954, following the historic Brown vs. Board of Education decision, schools in the North and West began to quietly desegregate. However, Southeastern public schools remained a unified front: no school desegregation.
The Tennessee State Constitution at the time forbade mixed classes.
In September 1955, 85 Black Tennessee students from the Scarboro neighborhood in Oak Ridge entered all-white classes in the Oak Ridge High School and the Robertsville Junior High School.
This was the first major victory over the Southeast’s Jim Crow racial culture. The 85’s desegregation continued non-violently, causing it to be overlooked in the following years.
Commissioner Aaron Wells (Oak Ridge, District 6) led efforts on the Anderson County Commission to fund the project.
“It’s vital that we remember these wonderful civil rights pioneers,” Commissioner Wells said. “The new monument will help our nation recognize the important role played by Scarboro in American History.”
Commissioner Anthony Allen (Oak Ridge, District 6), another strong supporter, had the same thought and said, “The new Scarboro 85 monument will help bring us all together. ”
According to a release, the monument and historical interpretive site will be built in Oak Ridge to honor the 85 pioneering students and reflect on the theme: “Black and White Communities coming together to help America.” It will be located in Bissell Park and feature 85 large “Pillars of Courage” surrounding a “Plaza of Healing and Hope.”
The County Commission's donation matched a similar donation by the city of Oak Ridge, the site of the historic desegregation.
“The Scarboro 85 desegregation was overlooked for many years because the desegregation was nonviolent,” Rose Weaver, monument committee member and Scarboro historian, said. “It was a wonderful example of the great things we can accomplish when Black and white communities come together to help the nation."
The new Scarboro 85 Monument and Historical Interpretive Site is being designed by the nationally recognized firm of demian\wilbur\architects in Washington, D.C., who also designed the International Friendship Bell.
If you would like to donate to the project or see how the site will look, visit scarboro85.com.
The monument is expected to cost between $2 - $3 million.