First Integrated Public Schools in the Southeast

Following the American Civil War the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865, abolishing slavery in the United States. During the post-Reconstruction era, leaders of southern states created a separate and second-class status for Black Americans, which included separated schools for Whites and Blacks in Tennessee. In the 1940s, the Manhattan Project and subsequently the Atomic Energy Commission operated the Oak Ridge Schools. Continued - The Atomic Energy Commission directed Oak Ridge Schools to desegregate. On September 6, 1955, a total of 85 Black American students peacefully enrolled in Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High School. These were the first desegregated public schools in the Southeast. The names of the brave individuals who first broke the practice of racial school segregation are listed on plaques inside each of the schools.