The entire Tennessee congressional delegation sponsored a resolution this week celebrating the Scarboro 85 students from the Scarboro neighborhood in Oak Ridge. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, these students made history by entering all-white classrooms.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separating children in public schools based on race was unconstitutional.
In a second opinion issued on May 31, 1955, the Supreme Court decreed that schools should be desegregated “with all deliberate speed.”
On September 6, 1955, the Scarboro 85 – which were 85 African American students – made history by entering all-white classrooms in Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High, becoming the first public schools in the Southeast region to integrate and implement the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education by the Supreme Court.
This year marks the 69th anniversary of the students’ historic entering the classrooms.
Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who led the resolution along with U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03), said it was an “honor” to celebrate the Scarboro 85.
Fleischmann added, “The Scarboro 85 are heroes, and every American should know their story from coast to coast.”
Along with Blackburn and Fleischmann, Tennessee U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and U.S. Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), Tim Burchett (R-TN-02), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04), Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), John Rose (R-TN-06), Mark Green (R-TN-07), David Kustoff (R-TN-08), and Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) sponsored the resolution.
Shirley Hawkins Lawrence, a Scarboro 85 student, applauded the resolution, saying, “I endured the negative glances and unfair treatment by students and teachers because I was determined to graduate in 1956 and be successful. This resolution and the actions of the Scarboro 85 were the keys to unlock the doors in this nation’s long road to equality.”
In addition to the Scarboro 85 students, the resolution introduced in the U.S. Senate also recognizes the African American staff members of Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High who entered the schools following the Brown v. Board of Education ruling and four churches in Oak Ridge which “aided” the Scarboro 85 in making history.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
