Editing Clinton, Tennessee (section)

===Clinton High School desegregation controversy===
[[File:Afro-American students enter Clinton High School.tif|right|210px|thumb|African-American students entering Clinton High School, December 1956]]{{further|Clinton High School, Tennessee#Integration}}
In 1956, Clinton gained national attention when segregationists opposed the [[desegregation]] of [[Clinton High School (Clinton, Tennessee)|Clinton High School]]. Following the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] decision in the case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', a court order required the desegregation of the high school. Twelve [[African-American]] students enrolled in the high school in the fall of 1956. On August 27, 1956, [[The Clinton 12]] attended classes at Clinton High School for the first time, becoming the first African-Americans to desegregate a state-supported public school in the Southeast. 

While the first day of classes occurred without incident, pro-segregation forces led by [[John Kasper]] and [[Asa Carter]] arrived in Clinton the following week and rallied the city's white citizens. Riots broke out in early September, forcing Governor [[Frank G. Clement]] to station National Guard units in Clinton throughout September. Sporadic violence and threats continued for the next two years, culminating in the bombing of Clinton High School on October 5, 1958. With an influx of outside aid, however, the school was quickly rebuilt.<ref>Carroll Van West, "[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=279 Clinton Desegregation Crisis]."  ''The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009.  Retrieved: February 11, 2013.</ref> A museum dedicated to the desegregation crisis, the Green McAdoo Cultural Center, is housed in Clinton's segregation-era [[Green McAdoo School]]. The Green McAdoo School served elementary school-aged black children, so until the desegregation movement, black high school-aged children were expected to travel to Knoxville for education.