Oak Ridge, TN (Dec. 2019) – William Latham died Wednesday, Dec. 18, at his home in Oak Ridge. He was one of the “Clinton 12” students who integrated Clinton High School in 1956 during the harsh era of Jim Crow segregation.
Green McAdoo Cultural Center made the following announcement on its Facebook page. The Center honors the lives of the 12 students. The statues of Latham and the other 11 are located at the entrance of the Center at 101 School Street in Clinton, Tennessee.
“On behalf of the Green McAdoo Cultural Organization, the City of Clinton, and the State of Tennessee, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Mr. William (Bill) Latham,” the post stated.
Clinton High School was the first state-run school in Tennessee to integrate, although the then-federally run Oak Ridge schools came first in 1955. The Brown v. Board of Education decision which integrated schools occurred in 1954.
The Green McAdoo Cultural Center described Latham as “blazing a trail for all black students to achieve equal education under the law.”
The center is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places as well as the list of National sites on the trail to civil rights.