Walking into History: The Beginning of School Desegregation in Nashville
John Egerton, Nashville, Tennessee
Essay Sections:
Introduction | Brown Comes to Tennessee | The Nashville Plan | Resistance and Resolve | September 9 |
The Witching Hour | The Turning Point | A Long Road Ahead | Appendices | Recommended Resources
The Witching Hour | The Turning Point | A Long Road Ahead | Appendices | Recommended Resources
Acknowledgements. Thanks to Elizabeth Odle of the Nashville Public Library for her painstaking assistance, and to the Nashville Banner Archives, Special Collections, Nashville Public Library for granting permission for all photographs.
Notes and Appendices:
1. Earlier that summer, administrators released a list
of fifteen white elementary schools identified as having six-year-old black
children living within their zones. Later, based on pre-registration
and canvassing
data, only six of those were categorized as schools where desegregation
was "probable" on opening day; by that date, the number had risen to
eight. See statistical data in Appendix.
Appendix A: Beginning of School Desegregation in Nashville, September 1957
The African American children named below were the first to enroll in formerly all-white public schools in the city. Sixteen were admitted to the first grade at six elementary schools when the fall term began on September 9, and three others could not enroll at a seventh school for technical reasons; another three had pre-registered on August 27, but were not present on opening day.
Appendix A: Beginning of School Desegregation in Nashville, September 1957
The African American children named below were the first to enroll in formerly all-white public schools in the city. Sixteen were admitted to the first grade at six elementary schools when the fall term began on September 9, and three others could not enroll at a seventh school for technical reasons; another three had pre-registered on August 27, but were not present on opening day.
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Notes: • Nashville had no kindergarten or pre-school programs at this time. • 11 of the 16 black children stayed in their new schools all year. • 9 of the 11 returned to those schools as second graders in 1958. •Desegregation of teachers and school administrators did not begin until later, in the 1960s. |
Appendix B: Nashville and Metro Public School Enrollment Statistics
Appendix C: Nashville by the Numbers, A Time Table
1957 - Eleven black children establish permanent desegregation of Nashville public schools when they enroll at the first grade level in five elementary schools; the Nashville and Davidson County schools systems enroll approximately 60,000 students, (80% white, 20% black).
1963 - Nashville and Davidson County governments merge, creating one political jurisdiction of 400,000 people (83% white, 17% black) and one unified (though still largely segregated) school system with about 85,000 students (79% white, 22% black, 1% "other").
1969 - Twelve years into desegregation, Nashville’s public schools have failed to eliminate segregation; total enrollment is at a new record high of 96,000 (74,000 white, 21,000 black, 1,000 "other"), but more than nine of every ten black students attend all-black schools; the federal courts mandate accelerated changes to begin in the fall of 1970.
1970 - In the decennial census, Metro Nashville has 448,000 residents, racially identified as 83% white and 17% black; court-ordered busing is delayed for another year, but white enrollment drops sharply to 62,000 (73%); blacks (21,000) and "others" (2,000), bring the total to 85,000.
1971 - A federal judge orders Nashville schools to begin busing students to reduce racial segregation and isolation; many whites protest, some boycott, and another 12,000 leave the school system for other options; white enrollment falls to 50,000, while blacks and others remain steady and total enrollment falls to 74,000.
1980 - Metro Nashville population reaches 470,000 in the 1980 census, and the white-black ratio remains stable at 83-17 ("others," whose numbers remain small, are mostly identified as either white or black). White flight continues in the school system, as another 10,000 opt out; there are now 40,000 whites, 22,000 blacks, and 4,000 others, totaling 66,000; during the decade, enrollment will slide further, approaching the 60,000 total of the mid-1950s.
1990 - As the city's population continues to grow, exceeding 510,000 in this census, the school system continues to lose whites (another 5,000 for a total of 35,000), but a small increase in black students (to 24,000) and a substantial rise in "others" (to 8,000) due to immigration, stabilizes the total public school population at 67,000.
2000 - Metro Nashville grows to 570,000 people in the millennial census — 66% white, 19% African-American, 15% others; the schools enroll 68,000 students (44% white, 41% African American, 16% other).
2007 - Fall enrollment approaches 75,000 students — 23,000 white (30%), 37,000 black (50%), 15,000 others (20%); Metro Nashville's population is estimated at 615,000; the school system has sustained a net loss of over 50,000 white students in the past 40 years, even though the white population over that time has remained steady; overall population has grown at a modest rate of about 1% per year.
Appendix C: Nashville by the Numbers, A Time Table
1957 - Eleven black children establish permanent desegregation of Nashville public schools when they enroll at the first grade level in five elementary schools; the Nashville and Davidson County schools systems enroll approximately 60,000 students, (80% white, 20% black).
1963 - Nashville and Davidson County governments merge, creating one political jurisdiction of 400,000 people (83% white, 17% black) and one unified (though still largely segregated) school system with about 85,000 students (79% white, 22% black, 1% "other").
1969 - Twelve years into desegregation, Nashville’s public schools have failed to eliminate segregation; total enrollment is at a new record high of 96,000 (74,000 white, 21,000 black, 1,000 "other"), but more than nine of every ten black students attend all-black schools; the federal courts mandate accelerated changes to begin in the fall of 1970.
1970 - In the decennial census, Metro Nashville has 448,000 residents, racially identified as 83% white and 17% black; court-ordered busing is delayed for another year, but white enrollment drops sharply to 62,000 (73%); blacks (21,000) and "others" (2,000), bring the total to 85,000.
1971 - A federal judge orders Nashville schools to begin busing students to reduce racial segregation and isolation; many whites protest, some boycott, and another 12,000 leave the school system for other options; white enrollment falls to 50,000, while blacks and others remain steady and total enrollment falls to 74,000.
1980 - Metro Nashville population reaches 470,000 in the 1980 census, and the white-black ratio remains stable at 83-17 ("others," whose numbers remain small, are mostly identified as either white or black). White flight continues in the school system, as another 10,000 opt out; there are now 40,000 whites, 22,000 blacks, and 4,000 others, totaling 66,000; during the decade, enrollment will slide further, approaching the 60,000 total of the mid-1950s.
1990 - As the city's population continues to grow, exceeding 510,000 in this census, the school system continues to lose whites (another 5,000 for a total of 35,000), but a small increase in black students (to 24,000) and a substantial rise in "others" (to 8,000) due to immigration, stabilizes the total public school population at 67,000.
2000 - Metro Nashville grows to 570,000 people in the millennial census — 66% white, 19% African-American, 15% others; the schools enroll 68,000 students (44% white, 41% African American, 16% other).
2007 - Fall enrollment approaches 75,000 students — 23,000 white (30%), 37,000 black (50%), 15,000 others (20%); Metro Nashville's population is estimated at 615,000; the school system has sustained a net loss of over 50,000 white students in the past 40 years, even though the white population over that time has remained steady; overall population has grown at a modest rate of about 1% per year.
Essay Sections:
Introduction | Brown Comes to Tennessee | The Nashville Plan | Resistance and Resolve | September 9 |
The Witching Hour | The Turning Point | A Long Road Ahead | Appendices | Recommended Resources
The Witching Hour | The Turning Point | A Long Road Ahead | Appendices | Recommended Resources
