“When I retired in 2001, I had taught school for 33 years. My very first year was the start of integration. They moved white teachers into Carver Elementary School, which had all black students at the time. I was young and confident, and I thought I knew everything. But when I got into the classroom, I realized I still had a lot to learn. You had to get in there and really experience it before you could become a good teacher.

“I just loved what I did. The little kids would come into the classroom and love on you. They would always say, ‘Ooh, Ms. Radle, you smell so good.’ It was so sweet.

“It was a very interesting year for all of us. We did a lot of innovative things to help the kids. Seeing their growth throughout the year was really neat. I think we all learned and grew together.”

— Stella Bird Radle

(Note: Stella passed away on April 4, 2024.)

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“I lived in California most all of my life, but my family’s roots are in the South. Back in the 1950s, my great aunt and other black students were traveling over 20 miles to school every day when there was another school much closer. My grandmother’s mom petitioned the courts to desegregate schools in Tennessee, and she eventually won.

“My great aunt was one of 12 black students to walk through the doors of Clinton High School in 1956. They were the first black students to integrate a southern public school, and they became known as the Clinton 12.

“It wasn’t easy for them. They were spit at, yelled at, and rocks were thrown at them. Of course it drew Klan attention, and there was a dynamite blast near my family’s home. So they decided to move to California.

“Years later one of the schools in Clinton was turned into a museum and they built statues of the 12 students, including my great aunt, Alvah J. McSwain.”

How does that make you feel?
“It makes me proud. They went through a lot. But it reminds me that no matter what adversity you might face, you should keep pushing. You should keep trying.”

— Larry Austin

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