The Clinton 12 --- The History

The Desegregation of Clinton Senior High School: Trial and Triumph
By Clinton Beauchamp and Amanda Turner

PHOTO ACCOUNTS TAKEN AT THE GREEN MCADOO CULTURAL CENTER, CLINTON, TENNESSEE

TO READ THE RECOLLECTIONS MORE CLEARLY, JUST CLICK ON THEM. OTHER PHOTOS ARE OF CLINTON, TENNESSEE



TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE CENTER, CLICK ON The Clinton 12 Exhibit, Clinton, Tennessee.



In the early 1950s, Clinton, Tennessee, was the epitome of a typical southern small town--quiet, friendly, simple.

And segregated.

In 1956, however, violence over the desegregation of Clinton High School would rock this town to the core and leave an important legacy for years to come.

The trials began with a groundbreaking lawsuit, McSwain v. Anderson County. In 1950, five Negro children and their parents, backed by the NAACP, filed suit against the Anderson County Board of Education to gain entrance into Clinton High School. At that time, the law of Anderson County and the law of the State of Tennessee not only allowed but also required segregation in State high schools, and Negro students in Clinton were designated to attend either Rockwood High School in Rockwood or Austin High School in Knoxville. Presiding Judge Robert L. Taylor of the Federal District Court in Knoxville, Tennessee, dismissed the case on the grounds that Anderson County was providing equal or better educational facilities to the Negro students. The decision was appealed but was suspended pending a decision by the Supreme Court in the historic Brown v. Board of Education case. On January 4, 1956, the final decree issued by Judge Taylor was "...that in Anderson County, as to high school students, segregation be ended by not later than the fall term of 1956."


The faculty and staff of Clinton High School began preparing for integration. For instance, students were assigned papers on the coming integration and involved in numerous class discussions. In addition, news of the school's impending integration was circulated in the local newspaper The Clinton Courier and announced at school assemblies and town meetings. A Clinton High student at that time, Jerry Shattuck, believes, "...the student body and the town of Clinton was pretty well aware of and prepared to accept the desegregation; I don't think they necessarily supported it, but, nevertheless, it was the law of the land and we were going to abide by it." Things progressed relatively smoothly throughout the summer.


On registration day, the 12 Negro students to attend Clinton High School signed up for classes with no trouble. It seemed that the integration might be implemented without any trouble, but the weekend before school was to begin, John Kasper came to town. Kasper was an ardent segregationist and leader of his own group, the White Citizens Council. He came into town and began to "stir up trouble." Kasper clearly stated his views on segregation in an article, "Segregation or Death" (Virginia Spectator, May, 1959), in which he stated, "The only defect with segregation as a national policy, as a policy of the government, is that it does not go far enough." Kasper would play a pivotal role in causing the problems in Clinton over the next few months and would be arrested several times.


With the stage thus set, on Monday, August 26, 1956, Clinton High School made history by becoming the first public high school in the South to desegregate. On the first day of school, Kasper and a few other citizens he recruited to his cause began picketing outside the school but were quickly disbanded. According to Mr. Shattuck, "They were gone in five minutes because they were embarrassed: it was sort of an unnatural activity carrying pickets here in a small town like this. Nevertheless, there was a big press contingent here that morning, so, by the time the afternoon newspapers came out or the evening television shows came on, it was all about this big protest in Clinton, Tennessee, over desegregation. Well, the great protest was five people carrying signs for five minutes; but, in my opinion, the press misrepresented what happened. The next morning, there were 15 people carrying pickets." The numbers kept increasing, and, by Thursday, the town was inundated with hundreds of outsiders "going up and down the streets and generally raising Cain." It soon became apparent that Clinton's two-man police force was woefully inadequate for the task at hand, so Mayor Lewallen was forced to organize a home guard of deputized citizens to supplement the police force and attempt to restore order to the town.


The guard was also placed at the homes of prominent citizens who had been threatened by segregationists. Despite all this turmoil outside, classes went on relatively normally inside the school. The atmosphere within the school environment at this time varies depending on whom you ask. Alfred Williams, a Negro student who attended the school during this time, says that there was a significant amount of harassment from the white students. "You couldn't possibly get anything learned or done, because you were constantly afraid that the white kid next to you was planningto kill you." Mr. Williams was eventually expelled after pulling a knife on a group of white students that were threatening to kill his brother, Charles.


However, Mr. Shattuck, a senior and captain of the football team and Student Council President at that time, disagrees with Williams, "No, actually the black students weren't harassed that much. They got to school without incident, because they came in the back of the school, and the mob was in the front...Once inside the school, they faced no harassment, neither was there any welcoming with open arms. Except in November, when Kasper came back to town and organized the Junior White Citizens Council, and then it was petty stuff like ink in lockers, tacks in seats, jostling in the hallway, and that sort of thing. But, the football team stationed itself at the hall corners, and we put a stop to that real quick.... We felt that this was the law of the land, and we were going to abide by it." Bobby Cain, Clinton's first Negro graduate, agrees with Shattuck thatthere wasn't any overt hostility, and he says, "I did manage to make a few friends." Despite the mostly peaceful atmosphere inside the school, problems continued to mount in town.


Friday, August 31 was the night of the big football rivalry game against Lake City. That night, even more cars poured into Clinton to see the game. Rumor spread that the segregationist groups were planning a cross-burning rally on the field at halftime. Although nothing happened at the game that night, the next night, Saturday night, was the night the State troopers and the National Guard were called into Clinton.


It started when a mob in the square in front of the Clinton courthouse got out of hand. The home guard, which had been inside the courthouse, began marching across the square in a line. It was then that the historic picture of the guard shown in newspapers and magazines across the country was taken. The guard was forced back into the courthouse by gunfire, and they called the governor. At that point it was decided that things were so out of hand that the State troopers were to be sent into the town. The story goes this way. Nearly 100 cars came over the bridge into town--with sirens blaring, they pulled up to the mob that had assembled between the courthouse and Hoskins, the local drugstore and soda fountain. Out of the lead, car climbed the six foot eight inch figure of Greg O'Rear, the head of the Highway Patrol, with a double-barreled shotgun slung over his shoulder. The story continues, that he stepped out and said to the assembled mob, "Alright, boys, it's all over." And, it was. The next day, the National Guard relieved the Highway Patrol and, from then through the end of September, policed Clinton.


The last major violent incident was on December 4, 1956, when the town held municipal elections. The White Citizens Council had put up a candidate for mayor who vowed to restore segregation if elected. On that day, three white citizens of Clinton decided to ensure that the Negro students going to Clinton High School arrived safely. Rev. Paul Turner, Sidney Davis, and Leo Burnett walked to the top of the hill and escorted ten of the 12 Negro students down the hill to the school. They got to the school safely, and, after the students went inside, the three men went their separate ways. However, when Rev. Turner turned to go to his church, First Baptist Church of Clinton, he was assaulted by a group of White Citizens Council members. While an elderly lady from a local flower shop managed to run the men off, Turner was, nevertheless, severely beaten. Although members of the White Citizens Council meant to scare citizens into supporting their candidate, he was soundly defeated.


Because of the assault on the Rev. Turner and numerous other incidents--including an attempt to enter the school where a student intervened to save Turner's wife, a Home Economics teacher, was saved from injury--Principal Brittain decided, that in the interest of the students' safety, he needed to act. So, the same day as the Reverend's attack, Brittain closed the school exactly two years after the Tennessee Supreme Court found segregation in education to be unconstitutional in Tennessee schools. Many of the seniors were terrified that they would be unable to graduate that year. "We could just see our senior year flying away," remarked one student. However, the violence could not hold Clinton High School down for long, and on December 10, six days after closing, the school was reopened.


Things remained quiet, and at the end of that year, Bobby Cain, the first Negro graduate of a desegregated public high school in the South, became a national news event. Members of the press from around the country attempted to talk to him. According to Jerry Shattuck, "Some of the senior boys got together and shielded him from the press that was trying to mob him." However, Mr. Cain's friend, Alfred Williams, remembers the event differently. "The night he graduated, they cut the lights out on him and hit him, then turned the lights back on. He never did find out who did it." After that year, major efforts by the segregationists in Clinton wound down. They felt that if one student could graduate, then more would follow, and indeed they did.

Principal Brittain resigned in the Spring of 1957. He and his wife had received countless threatening letters since the beginning of the school year and near constant harassment. A slight man of a 130 pounds, he lost 14 pounds, and had his life threatened no less than a dozen times during the school year. Earlier in the year, he had asked the student body to vote on whether or not they wanted him to resign; a similar ballot was taken home to the parents, and, except for six dissenting votes, the overwhelming majority believed that Brittain was doing a fine job and wanted him to remain. Nevertheless, by spring he had had enough and felt that it was time for him to resign. The problems had also taken their toll on the faculty of the high school.

By the beginning of the 1957-1958 school year, only seven of the school's teachers returned. Among them was Juanita Moser, who served as assistant principal and was a teacher. With a new principal, Mr. W.D. Human, school continued peacefully for the remainder of the year. It appeared to many that the worst was over, and that they had weathered the storm.





Two years later on Sunday, October 5, 1958, the peace of Clinton High School was once again shattered, this time by explosives. An estimated 75 to 100 sticks of dynamite ripped through the high school building in three successive blasts in the early morning hours. While the majority of the school was destroyed, no one was injured because the explosion's timing. The gym and the upper section of the school remained intact, but the rest of the building was in shambles with scarcely one stone remaining upon another. To this day, despite a Federal investigation, no one knows who was responsible for the bombing. To many, though, that really doesn't matter.


In the eyes of many people, the real story of the bombing and Clinton High School's integration is a story of a people united to preserve the peace and decency of a small town. Within three days of the bombing, Clinton High School students were attending classes in a borrowed school. Clinton High was moved seven miles away to the abandoned Linden Elementary School, which was donated by the Atomic Energy Commission, in Oak Ridge. While the old high school was salvaged for anything savable and, for the two years it took to complete the new Clinton High School building in 1960, students did their best to receive an education despite having to use chairs made for ten-year-olds and undersized lockers. Even the old rivalry of Clinton and Oak Ridge was put aside, and Clinton students arrived on their first day at Linden to the sounds of music from the Oak Ridge High School Marching Band.


Many people view the integration of Clinton High School as a success story. Although some may debate this view, most Clintonians will agree that it was successful. As Jerry Shattuck puts it, "The people in Clinton themselves made it happen. They needed help from the State, and they got it, and, later on, they needed help from the Federal marshals, and they got it, but nowhere else [in the country], in my opinion, did the people let it be known through their actions what their will was. And their will was not a commitment to integration. It was a commitment to ‘This is our decent, civilized little town, and we're going to obey the law of the land and not let it be messed up.' I think that this is the real success of the story."




THE CLINTON 12

Maurice Soles
Anna Theresser Caswell
Alfred Williams
Regina Turner Smith
WilliamR.Latham
Gail Ann Epps Upton
Ronald Gordon "Poochie" Hayden
JoAnn Crozier Allen Boyce
Robert Thacker
Bobby Cain
Minnie Ann Dickey Jones
Alvah McSwain

GREEN MCADOO CULTURAL CENTER
101 SCHOOL STREET
CLINTON, TENNESSEE 37717
(865) 463-6500

Kingsport's DEFY Kids Visit the Clinton 12 Experience

"It's scary."

"I don't see why they bombed the school."

"It was a dumb thing to do.. they didn't hurt anybody."


Riverview and South Central Kingsport children taking part in the DEFY (Drug Enforcement for Youth) program, are appalled by the treatment of children in 1950's Clinton, Tennessee. In June, they took a field trip to the Green McAdoo Cultural Center in Clinton, home of the museum that honors the determination and spirit of 12 students who themselves "defied" the odds of attending Clinton's all-white school in 1957.

To see pictures of the children's experience, please click DEFY Kids Visit the Clinton 12 Experience.



"Our kids don't understand yet the price that has been paid, so they can be educated in the best schools possible," says Mary Alexander with Kingsport's Weed & Seed program, co-sponsor of the DEFY program. "This trip is important, because the kids are having a natural reaction to the things they see in the exhibits. They cannot imagine that in a city as small as Clinton, Tennessee, there were EIGHT bombings to prevent integration. They tend to take their education and freedom of movement and justice for granted, because they don't know anything else. This exhibit shows them the price that was paid, for something they take for granted."




Parents of black students attending the Green McAdoo School had asked for years that their kids be allowed to attend the closer Clinton High School, instead of being bussed all the way to Austin High School in Knoxville, 35 miles away. After BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION, integration in Clinton and Anderson County seemed a certainty, until the community was roused into a rage by segregationists, who came to town and stirred the locals into a racial frenzy. The Clinton High School was bombed, not so much in an effort to keep blacks out, as to make a racial statement. Eventually, 12 brave African-Americans journeyed down the hill from the Green McAdoo School, and were able to attend the Clinton High School, but not without a cultural price.


"It's not surprising the DEFY students can't imagine that people would blow up a high school to keep black people from coming inside it," says Mrs. Alexander. "When I told them the word 'bombings,' they said, 'what do you mean, bombings?' I said 'BOMBINGS, blow things up.' They said 'what?' That is just so removed from them. History must be taught, so they can understand the price paid..that's why Jews teach the Holocaust, Native Americans teach the Wild West. African-Americans must teach the Civil Rights Movement, so that our children can look at it and believe 'something about that just wasn't right.'



That sentiment is echoed by Marilyn Hayden, the director of the Green McAdoo Cultural Center. 51 years ago, her brother Ronald was one of the Clinton 12.

"Less than 10 years after my brother Ronald took those historic steps along with his 11 classmates, he passed away," says Ms. Hayden. "In 1966, I was only a youngster and he was gone. I wasn't able to ask him what he went through..I never knew the enormity of that time and what they accomplished until I got older. He wasn't here for me to ask him, so I've had to rely on the history books and the teachings of the elders to understand how brave they all were."


Ms. Hayden went on.. "we have kids up here all the time at the museum just these from Kingsport, wanting to talk about integration, segregation, racism. They have no idea what it is, but they want to learn about it."










"When the kids hear about the (Ku Klux) Klan or something about a black person having been beaten to death generations ago just because they were black," says Mrs. Alexander, "we want them to think to themselves 'well why would people do that?' Right now, they may not know where that comes from. If they don't know about it, history has failed them."


"These kids can't imagine that in a town as small as Clinton, Tennessee, 8 bombings happened to keep black students from attending the white schools," Mrs. Alexander says.

"If these kids get nothing else from this visit," she says, "they will learn that 'I myself decide what is right..I will set my own standards, regardless of what is happening around me.







"If we don't teach them anything else, if they can learn that... they'll be all right."

The Ebony Club Alumni Association: The Next Big Event!

THE NEXT BIG EVENT: Talent and Fashion Show


A message to all members of Ebony Club Alumni Association

Stay tuned for news about a conference call for our next big event, Ebony Club Talent and Fashion Show. If things go according to plan, meaning we have enough hands on deck, we will be holding this event in February 2010. We just have to work out the logistics, and develop a core group of individuals in Kingsport to structure and coordinate the effort.

Jeff "Pac-Man" Faulkerson
DBHS Class of 1986
Jfaulk28@nc.rr.com
(919) 604-4585

Visit Ebony Club Alumni Association by clicking the link at top left

V.O. Dobbins Center: TWO Community Rooms, Instead of One

There will definitely be community space in the newly-renovated V.O. Dobbins Center in Kingsport.

But make that that TWO community rooms, instead of one.

Chris McCartt, Kingsport's Assistant City Manager for Development says, a recent Kingsport Times-News article on August 3rd, left the impression that only one Community Room is being built.

"We are indeed planning to build a Community Room for the residents of the new HOPE VI homes in Riverview," sqays Mr. McCartt. "That is definite. We have been planning that one, because every public housing complex in the city has a Community Room for meetings, gatherings and events like weddings, birthday parties and reunions."

That one will be located in the area just off the old Douglass Gym, in the ballfield where baseball was played. Bulldozers and front-end loaders have been dredging that area for several weeks, replacing the soft dirt with the shale and clay necessary to support a heavy structure.

But it's not the only large meeting room going in.

The original Douglass Community Room will be built where first-floor classrooms already are, that will be renovated and walls taken out. The Douglass Alumni Association headquarters and offices will be located just off that Community Room.

"That particular room will be available for board meetings of the Alumni Association, the United Way, and the other organizations in the adjacent non-profit tower. That community room can also accomodate neighborhood events and other meetings, as designated by the city."

Both Community Rooms will be the same size, about 8,900 square feet. The HOPE VI-KHRA Community Room is being built from the ground up, at a cost of $1 million dollars. Cost of the Douglass Community Room is built into the original $8 million dollar cost of renovating the whole building, and will cost considerably less, as the space for that particular room is already enclosed.

For the HOPE VI-KHRA Community Room, "first right of use refusal will be for the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority," says Mr. McCartt, "which will also have various offices there, much like the big rooms at Robert E. Lee and Cloud Apartments. If you remember, the old Riverview Apartments Community Room was in the old Carver Library, to the left as you entered the front door.

"The Douglass Community Room will be much more personal," he says, "as it will contain memorabilia and mementoes from Douglass High School and the Riverview Community. It will house a custom-made display case for those, and also a trophy case that is being specially designed right now, to hold the Douglass athletic trophies."

Mr. McCartt says, the Kingsport Parks and Recreation Department, who will also have offices in the the renovated building, will handle the booking and renting of that Community Room, outside of meetings and events of the non-profit agencies.

"One thing we do not have a lot of in Kingsport," he says, "is meeting space. I think this type of facility will meet some of that demand in terms of two Community Rooms of moderately large size that the city needs."

CBS Youth Gospel Explosion: In The Spirit, Say Yes!

The second annual Youth Explosion 2009, “In the Spirit, Say Yes,” was held this past Friday and Saturday, August 7th and 8th.


For more pictures of the event, just click on 2009 CBS Youth Gospel Explosion.

The event at the Douglass Field and the V.O. Dobbins Center featured singing and praise dancing by local artists, groups and churches. The host singers were the New Visiion Youth Kids, directed by Johnnie Mae Swaggerty.



The event features free food and special guests including Transition, Kacy McClinton, Arron Howard, Unvailed Praise, J’Tia Williamson, P.O.G., Annointed, For His Glory, Hood Memorial Praise Team, Hale’s Chapel Praise Dancers, Shellé, Mr. Dell & the Holy, Sould-Out, The Karah Dance Ministry, VFL Praise Team, and Loleta Dukes Praise Dancer.


One of the highlights of the event, was the special presentation of a plaque to Ms. Pinkie Horton, one of the community's famed and most memorable singers. Money raised by the event provides scholarship money to deserving high school students, with the money given in Ms. Pinkie's honor.

The event was presented and sponsored by the CBS Alumni, directed by Lisa Williamson.

Rebuttal to Douglas Releford From A Douglass Board Member

We received this letter from Douglass Board Member Virginia Hankins, as rebuttal to Douglas Releford's comments, concerning the Douglass Alumni Board meeting of August 1st. The letter is unedited and printed in its entirety:


In answer to Mr. Releford's account of what is causing turmoil within the Douglass Alumni Association, let me first confirm that I, Virginia (Jenny) Hankins daughter of Emogene Cartwright Hankins and Lloyd (Teen) Hankins is one of the three persons in question. A majority of the Douglass alumni know that I have worked diligently with the association for years and have no intent whatsoever to disrupt the organization. During Mr. Releford's first term as President of the Douglass Alumni Association, if he will admit, I was his right hand person. I also was the person who prepared the financial report for our 501(c)3 during the time when I was not an officer. I have also acquired for the association $2,000.00 for the scholarship fund through Kholl's Department Store. This is just a very small portion of my resume concerning the Douglass Alumni Association. If you need more information about my loyalty to the association talk with Louetta Hall and Kathryn (Che-Che) White former presidents.
I do not want the job as president and have made it known several times over the years. My life as a volunteer does not allow me time to head an organization but only to assist in it. If I see something that is affecting the association, yes I will question it. There is animosity within the group and is my opinion that it all began when several members, me being one of the outspoken ones, questioned the fact that the Ebony club could join us without a vote. I was told that it was an executive decision and an apology was offered. We the association voted to table the Ebony club's joining us until after the reunion. Since then I feel that incident has put a damper on the association. Another incident involves the add-booklets that we gave out this year. I want you all to know that those booklets have allowed us to have more income in the bank at the end of the reunion than we have ever have. But the person who headed that endeavor was presented with roadblocks during the entire process.
I had intended to step down from the board because I feel that there are people who have their own agenda other than funding scholarships. Whoever is on the board in the future just remember that one of the main reasons the Douglass Alumni Association was formed was to give equal scholarships to sons and daughters of our alumni members.
This is my last comment concerning this matter. Friends do not despair because the Douglass Alumni Association will continue as long as our Lord breathes breath into at least one of us.

Respectfully Submitted,
Virginia (Jenny) Hankins

Why is There Turmoil on the Douglass Alumni Board?

"I think it boils down to people who wanted to be elected to office in the recent Alumni Board election, were not elected to office, and now they are doing everything they can to disrupt the Douglass Alumni Association Board and its meetings."

Those words from Douglass Releford, who resigned his post partly in frustration, at the Douglass Alumni Association meeting on August 1st.

The dispute apparently started at a board meeting on June 13th of this year.

According to the minutes of that meeting which were published the next day on the Douglass website, Board member Virginia Hankins made a motion to "amend the Alumni Association by-laws (Article 5, Section 2) to allow the election of new officers by the existing board members PRIOR to the Reunion within the Body of the Board itself, and then present the new officers to the Alumni at the Memorial Service on Sunday." The motion was seconded by Pam Sensabaugh. There was no discussion, and after the vote, the motion passed, with Wallace Ross, Jr. abstaining from the vote.

The by-law that was suspended, calls for the "election of officers" process to be AFTER the Reunion, and once a by-law is suspended, according to Roberts Rules of Order, any provisions within that by-law are also suspended as well.

Meanwhile, adhering to the board's vote of the 13th, at the board meeting on the 27th of June, the committee formed to coordinate the election, passed out ballots to board members, and after filling them out, the results of the election were announced. The new officers elected were:

President: Douglas Releford
Vice President: Lillian Leeper
Correspondence Secretary: Pamela Sensabaugh
Treasurer: Sandra Wilmer
Recording Secretary: Thelma Watterson
Chaplin: Louetta Hall
Sergeant-At-Arms: Andra Watterson

Permanent positions:
Webmaster, Public Relations Manager: Calvin Sneed
Food services: Van Dobbins, Jr.

The election was approved by a majority show of hands of the Board members present, and a quorum of members was met at the meeting.

But questions have now arisen from three members of the board about the validity of the election, although it does not appear to have violated any rules of the Douglass Alumni Association charter, or Roberts Rules of Order.

"It seems that some people on the board have a different agenda than the other board members," Releford said recently, "and it's been going on for some time. I think challenging something the board already discussed and voted on, is only going to keep turmoil going. Sometimes it's hard to get alumni to serve on boards and committees, but the Douglass Alumni out in the community and in the other cities just don't know what we've been going through."

At the Board meeting of August 1st, "we had three Board members who kept arguing about the rules and by-laws, but we have been operating this way for years, in accordance with or charter and Roberts Rules of Order," says Releford. "The way that we elect officers for the next two-year term is the way they have been elected for years. This year, board members voted to move the election to before the reunion, instead of after it. And we have always had a committee to elect officers, bring their names to the board, the board votes on it, and it has always stood. Despite that, at this particular meeting, that was challenged."

Minutes from the meeting show, Wallace Ross, Jr. challenged the election, and made a motion to have the election thrown out.

The motion was defeated. The election still stands, and the officers have not taken office yet.

But the resulting dispute over the election, plus personal attacks on himself, prompted Releford to resign his position as president of the Douglass Alumni Board.

"I feel like my job as president was being challenged for the simple reason that somebody else wanted the office," he says. "In one of their arguments to challenge, they were determined that I wasn't going to serve another 'year' which is incorrect. Douglass Alumni officers do not serve in 'years,' they serve 'terms,' and each term is two years long. If the three people who challenged the election did not like the way it turned out, they had plenty of opportunity to bring it up and challenge it at the meeting when the election by-law was suspended, and then, the meeting when the ballots were passed out and the election was held and the votes counted. The same people that are questioning my office, are the same people who voted to put me IN the office."

"The only thing I can figure out is, that they just wanted someone else to hold the executive offices."

"My health is my main concern," he says. "I felt uneasy, nervous and stressed as that meeting went on, and then being harrassed and insulted, along with my health problems of the past, I did not want to keep myself in the situation of having to deal with that."

As it was left, the installation of those new officers is still on the future agenda of the Douglass Alumni Association Trustee Board, Releford says. "Right now, what I feel is a useless challenge to something the Board has already decided, is distracting the Board from doing its work. Those officers have to be installed, so that the IRS sees, that we are following the federal law. We also have community responsibilities that our 501 (c) 3 non-profit status requires of us, and this is holding us back. It is jeopardizing that non-profit status."

Would Releford want to come back to the Board as its president, and would he?

"Yes, absolutely," he says. "We went through so much to get the non-profit status having to do it without an attorney, and I feel that I and the other two people who worked on it, need to follow it through. The dispute brought by these three Board members, is distracting and getting us off-track. There is philanthropic work that this Board and this Alumni Association need to be doing right now. Some people were not in favor of getting the non-profit status, but the majority of the Board saw how the 501 (c) 3 designation holds us to a certain standard, it imposes many rules that make you accountable, and they saw the need for that. The audits the government routinely does on how the agency spends money, routs out fraud and people who may have financial ulterior motives."

"I do feel that the alumni from Knoxville and Chattanooga and Nashville, Atlanta and even out in our local community, need to come to our meetings and experience what the Board itself has to go through. Their opinions need to be heard, too. Many of them have questioned before how we ever get things done, through questions and debates that they think, are meaningless. They definitely need the insight. Many of them hear through the grapevine what goes on, and the only word they all share is SHOCK. Even an outside mediator would be helpful to moderate our disputes, an attorney or a judge would be acceptable, too. We need to show them the legal things we are doing, and then some of the obstacles that we face trying to put them into motion."

"I have checked other websites of alumni associations whose schools are still open, and they even have by-laws that say, 'if you haven't paid your alumni dues, you are not a member of the alumni association,' much less a board member. We have never enforced that, because sometimes it's hard to get folks with difficult schedules to attend meetings. But some of our folks who used to come to meetings, have said they've been scared away from all the disputes we go through. And the one thing they bring up, is that most of the disputes are useless."

"It's time we have harmony on that Board," Releford says. "or else, the Douglass Alumni Association will just fade away. It will cease to exist. Things will have to get better, hopefully with more input, more attendance, and more participation from Douglass Alumni to keep us together."

To the out-of-town, and out-in-the-community Douglass Alumni, Releford has an invitation that he says, is made out of desperation.

"PLEASE come to the meetings," he says. "You don't have to participate. Just come and watch and listen. Maybe the folks who cause the disharmony and disunion will see you there, and know that other people are watching them."


ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THEIR SIDE OF THIS STORY, PLEASE EMAIL CALVIN FOR AN INTERVIEW: douglassriverview@gmail.com

KingsportDeals for the Tax Free Weekend

If you're planning to take advantage of Tennessee's tax-free holiday weekend, please check out KingsportDeals. We got this via Jeff Fleming, Kingsport's Assistant City Manager for Development.

Just click KingsportDeals and print the coupons.

Happy shopping!

Douglass Alumni Association Board Minutes - 8/1/09

SPECIAL NOTE:
AFTER CHECKING THE TAPE, ONE ITEM HAPPENED BEFORE THE BOARD WENT INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION, AND THAT IS THAT ALUMNI PRESIDENT DOUG RELEFORD RESIGNED FROM THE BOARD, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. IT IS AN ADDENDUM TO THESE MINUTES.

THE ELECTION OF NEW BOARD MEMBERS DONE ON JUNE 27, 2009 STILL STANDS AND WAS DONE LEGALLY.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ VERBATIM TRANSCRIPTS OF THE DISCUSSIONS THAT ACCOMPANY THESE MINUTES, PLEASE SEND YOUR REQUEST IN AN EMAIL TO: douglassriverview@gmail.com AND I WILL SEND THEM TO YOU.

THE DISCUSSIONS I RECORDED AT THE MEETING ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECORDING SECRETARY'S MINUTES, BUT SERVE AS BACKGROUND FOR THEM.





Douglass Alumni Trustee Board Meeting Minutes

August 1, 2009


Those in attendance:

Shelia Leeper, Kathy Evans, Lonnie Cox, Virginia Hankins, Pamela Sensabaugh, Wallace W. Ross, Jr., Linda Bly, Sandra Wilmer, Lillian Leeper, Calvin Sneed, Douglas Releford, Thelma Watterson, Andra Watterson, Van Dobbins, Jr., Dawnella Ellis.

Meeting was called to order by President Douglas Releford

Prayer by Vice President Lillian Leeper

Minutes of the last meeting was read by Recording Secretary Thelma Watterson. Motion to accept the reading of the minutes was made by Kathy Evans, second by Lillian Leeper. Motion Carried.

Financial Report by Treasurer Sandra Wilmer, she handed out the financial report for 2007-2009.

Linda Bly gave a report of the monies she spent in putting the alumni booklet together. She stated that she spent $97.74. Virginia Hankins made a motion to repay Linda for her expenses, second by Kathy Evans. Motion carried.

Sandra Wilmer also gave a report of the money she spent to balance her books, $135.00. Linda Bly had said Richard Clark told her he had already mailed his 100 dollars for his ad, but the money has not been received, so Sandra put in 100 dollars of her own money to balance the books, and also for Clinch Mountain Lodge's ad. Motion to repay Sandra was made by Wallace Ross, Jr. second by Andra Watterson. Motion carried.

Old Business:

Virginia Hankins stated that we have duplication in reporting the alumni meetings/minutes. We have the Streaming Media for those that can’t wait and we have the minutes that are posted on the website. Her question; why can’t we use the minutes of the appointed Recording Secretary as the legal minutes. Since we are not in competition we should use the minutes that the secretary typed up?

Calvin Sneed stated that in the past four months the minutes that the secretary typed up are the minutes that are posted to the website.

Reunion Booklets were handed out to those individuals that paid for full-page ads. There were considerable discussions concerning the Alumni Ad-Books.

Virginia Hankins made a motion that only those individuals who bought full-page ads should receive a book. By a show of hands the motion was carried, one abstains. Motion carried.

There were two ads that didn’t get in the Ad Book. The City of Kingsport stated that there was too much paper work involved in money that is to be returned so they made a donation of $100.00 to the Alumni Association. Nathan Vaughn asked that his money be returned.

Wallace Ross, Jr. asked a question about Article V of our By-Laws. He stated that according to Article V Section II of the By-Laws the election of officers should be null and void and that the officers should be restated by the By-Laws of Article V.

President Douglas Releford declared all offices vacant. Douglas asked Wallace Ross, Jr. what he was challenging. Wallace stated that the board should brings names for acceptance according to Article V of our By-Laws this was not done.

Calvin Sneed asked should we throw out the election. Wallace said that Sections 4 & 5 was not voted on. Wallace made a motion to void the past election and have a new election. Linda Bly stated that all members should be notified.

Motion to have a new election failed there were three abstains. Calvin Sneed stated that we should bring the original motion off the floor and address the issues of Article V. We need to accept the current By-Laws or amend the By-Laws. After the motion is tabled we will be able to discuss the articles and get them out of the way.

Addendum to the Douglas Alumni Association Meeting Minutes of 8/01/2009

President Douglas Releford Resigned before we went into Executive Session.

The Alumni Association went into Executive Section.

Respectfully Submitted

Thelma Watterson, Recording Secretary



AGAIN... THE RECORDED DISCUSSIONS ON THESE MINUTES ARE AVAILABLE BY SENDING A REQUEST TO: douglassriverview@gmail.com

City adding community area to V.O. Dobbins project

Community room will include the resident activity office, training facilities, and a Boys and Girls Club branch site.

THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

By MATTHEW LANE
mlane@timesnews.net



KINGSPORT — The city of Kingsport is expanding the V.O. Dobbins Community Center renovation project by adding an 8,900-square-foot community area to the footprint of the facility. The cost of the addition will be $1 million.
The V.O. Dobbins Center is a city-owned community center located between Louis and Wheatley streets in Riverview. The building served as Kingsport’s “blacks only” school from 1951 to 1966 and was named Douglass High School.
Kingsport plans to renovate 46,000 square feet of the facility and initially add 50,000 square feet of new space including another gymnasium and a new 28,000-square-foot, three-story nonprofit wing.
Chris McCartt, assistant to the city manager, said work has begun on the $5.9 million project, adding he is confident the new V.O. Dobbins will be ready by July 2010, with the new community wing being open a month later.
“The parking lot for the nonprofit wing has been constructed and is being used as a lay-down yard,” McCartt said. “The nonprofit wing has the steel being put in place. They’ve begun to lay the block on the new educational wing and are in the process of doing the undercutting of the soil for the new gym and community c e n t e r. ”
McCartt recently came before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and updated them on the proposed addition to the facility — an 8,900-square-foot community center to be located on the ball field side of the building between the two gymnasiums.

The new community room will contain the resident activity office, Riverview administration offices, community supportive services program, family selfsufficiency program, training facilities (computers, job training, room for speakers) and a Boys and Girls Club branch site.
Many of the offices from the Fresh Start building will be moved over to this new facility, then that building will house South Central Community Development Inc., the Weed and Seed and tax assistance programs.
“All of the housing authority complexes have some sort of community room and on-site office. That’s required at all housing projects,” McCartt said. “When the houses are built back in Riverview, they’re going to be required under the HOPE VI grant to have a community cent e r. ”
Since there is no room on the actual site of the new houses, McCartt said the city’s thinking was to put the new community room at V.O. Dobbins instead of tying up another property along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
The city and the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority own most of the property along MLK Drive, with the plan now being to sell some of those properties for private development.
“We looked at (putting the community room in V.O. Dobbins) early on to see if there was enough space to accommodate it. Ultimately, the decision was reached there wasn’t (enough space),” McCartt said. “At the same time we have to adhere to the HOPE VI grant, and the requirements set forth in it require a separate community center.
“By bringing them both together it is a win-win for everybody.”
The cost of the addition will be $1 million, which includes prep work and construction. McCartt said the architectural work for the addition is being rolled into the existing contract with Cain Rash West Architects at no additional cost.
Two years ago, the BMA approved a Section 108 loan for $1 million as part of the city’s commitment to the HOPE VI project. This is the money that will be used to fund the construction of the new addition and will be paid back with Community Development Block Grant funds over a 20-year period.
McCartt said paying the loan back with CDBG funds will not affect any of the city’s funding for community development partnerships, such as the Salvation Army and CASA.

Location of Stormwater Runoff Leaves Resident "Across the Big Pond"

The location of the retention pond for the V.O. Dobbins Community Center renovations on Louis Street in Riverview has raised the eyebrow of a nearby resident.



Jack Pierce says one day, "right out of a clear blue sky," he noticed what looked like a long, rectangular ditch right across the street from his Louis Street home.

"We saw them digging it one day," he says, "but we didn't what it was for, or if they were going to leave it open like it was. When I asked one of the fellows working over there what it was, he told us it was for holding rainwater."



What Mr. Pierce saw, is the latest eco-friendly process to keep land from being flooded. It is commonly referred to as a retention pond, usually built to catch excess stormwater runoff from parking lots and construction projects. If it is working correctly, a retention pond holds excess storm water from a heavy rain just long enough so it will flow into a small pipe that connects it to the nearest storm water drain, whose pipe is much larger. The resulting "damming" effect holds the water in the pond for a few hours while it goes into the drainage system and not onto nearby land. Almost every municipality requires builders to install these ponds on the downslopes of new buildings and parking lots. Often, new construction will upset the normal flow of excess storm water, and often sends that excess water into previously unflooded places like nearby basements, crawl spaces, and low spots in streets.


When the Dobbins Center was Douglass High School, the building was "grandfathered" from having to install a retention pond. Once the building was approved for renovation though, that "grandfather" rule did not apply anymore, and new rules requiring a retention pond went into effect.

But it's not the pond itself that concerns Jack Pierce. It's an unwanted by-product of the standing water that may be left behind as the pond slowly drains into the stormwater drainage system.

WATER FLOWING FROM THE RETENTION POND INTO THE STORM DRAIN

"We're concerned that standing water that has not flowed out of the pond yet could breed mosquitoes," says Mr. Pierce. "We have not had any problems with the bugs yet because we haven't had that much rain, but if you give them a habitat like standing water, they're drawn to it. We're worried that we won't be able to enjoy our yards if the mosquitoes establish a breeding ground in any water that's left in the pond."

"And then, what about the appearance of the pond?" he wondered out loud. "Will we have to come outside and stare at that hole in the ground all the time?"



"Mr. Pierce has legitimate concerns about the retention pond," says Chris McCartt, Kingsport's Development Service Manager and Assistant to the City Manager. "I wish there were any other place to put that pond, but if you look at the lay of the land and the way the slope is, water flow from Lincoln/MLK and the railroad tracks, slopes downward through Riverview towards the Holston River. We had to put the pond down from the building in the direction of the river, but near enough to the construction site and the parking lot to catch the excess runoff from heavy rains."


"We will be monitoring for bugs, especially mosquitoes," he says. "One of the good things is, that this is a retention pond, not a detention pond. A detention pond normally holds the excess storm water and lets it seep into the ground without drainage into the stormwater system. As this water leaves, it might leave little pockets, but those will either evaporate or sift into the ground quickly."

"We are also considering landscaping for the retention pond," Mr. McCartt added. "Another good thing about retention ponds, is they lend themselves to landscaping with shrubs, bushes and decorative plants. A detention pond retains too much water for those types of plants to work."




Storm water runoff has always been problematic for Riverview. Longtime residents say problems with excess water after heavy rains date back to the early days of the neighborhood. The community was built over the site of a former chemical dump for nearby industries, and as some chemical wastes hardened, seeping water moving towards the water table was obstructed by the the new barrier. That water frequently seeped back to the surface and flooded backyards and storm drains.




Upgrades to the storm water drainage system along Carver, Louis, Dunbar, Lincoln and Douglass Streets helped to move the excess rain water along somewhat, but heavy rains still produced flooding. Wheatley Street was the last new street added to the neighborhood, and as a result, does not experience the standing water the other streets have.

Apparently, without the retention pond, the V.O. Dobbins renovations would intensify many of the flooding problems the neighborhood has suffered in the past.



"We may also be forced to build another retention pond on the other side of the building," says Mr. McCartt. "The other one may not be as big as the present one, but when you look at the additional parking lot we have to build at the new Headstart classrooms, you have to start figuring up your drainage calculations and once they hit a certain point, you have to start thinking of how to capture that water also."

What should local residents do, if they notice more mosquitoes than normal?

"Just call City Hall," Mr. McCartt says. "Let us know, and if we find out the mosquitos are coming from the retention pond, then we will act quickly to spray for them. There is also a tablet you can drop into standing water that poisons the larvae immediately. Residents just need to let the building manager Mark Kilgore know, and he'll take a look at it and do the right thing if they're coming from the pond."


Mr. McCartt visited the pond to personally hear Mr. Pierce's concerns.

"I feel confident that Chris will take care of any problem we might have," says Mr. Pierce. "They've always been pretty good about looking into anything we have a problem about. I realize the pond has to go someplace and we were surprised to see it right across the street from us, but I feel the city won't let us down if problems come out of it."

V.O. Dobbins Renovations Comparison Pictures

A month ago during an interview with the main architect for the Douglass/V.O. Dobbins Center renovations, design specialist Dineen West said, every major construction project in the renovation would be started during the month of July.

She was right.


The 3-story tower steel framework is almost complete, the block walls for the Headstart expansion on Wheatley Street are up, ground has been broken for the new gymasium and the new KHRA offices, and walls on the first floor are ready to be busted out for the new Douglass Alumni Association offices. And we have pictures of it all.

To see pictures of the latest construction on the Douglass/V.O. Dobbins Center, click

Douglass/V.O. Dobbins Update, July 25, 2009. I think you'll be surprised at the progress workers are making to our building. Direct comparision pictures and the date of the photos are below:

Below is a sequence of photos from the beginning of July until July 25, 2009, and as you can see, the project is really progressing.

JUNE 2, 2009
VIEW FROM WHEATLEY STREET TOWARDS BAYS MOUNTAIN First picture is from June 2, 2009, Second is from July 13th, and Third is from July 25th)


















NEW HEADSTART CLASSROOMS (First picture is from July 2, 2009, Second is from July 25th)























CARVER STREET LOOKING AT OLD AUDITORIUM SITE (First picture is from April 23, 2009, Second is from May 30th, Third is from July 25th)





Artchitect Dineen West says, all of the construction on the project should be underway by the end of July, and indeed it is.

2009 Summer Block Party

The annual REsident Block Party on Saturday, July 25, 2009, sponsored by the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority, brought out friends and neighbors in the South Central Kingsport communnity.

To see pictures from the event, click KHRA Summer Block Party 2009.

The event that featured pizza, soft drinks, music and fun and games for the children, was sponsored by the Kingsport Housing and Revelopment Authority.