I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 453 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility 

of designating Green McAdoo School in Clinton, Tennessee as a unit 

of the National Park System, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2009 

Mr. WAMP (for himself and Mr. LEWIS of Georgia) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability 

and feasibility of designating Green McAdoo School in 

Clinton, Tennessee as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Green McAdoo School 

5 National Historic Site Study Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) The formerly segregated all-black Green 

2 McAdoo School and all-white Clinton High School, 

3 both located in Clinton, Tennessee, played a vital 

4 role in the school desegregation crisis that preceded 

5 and followed the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown 

6 v. Board of Education in 1954. 

7 (2) Green McAdoo School opened as the Clinton 

8 Colored School in 1935 and was renamed in 1947 

9 to honor Green McAdoo, a buffalo soldier who once 

10 owned the land upon which it was built. 

11 (3) In 1950, the parents of 5 Clinton, Ten12 nessee, children filed a lawsuit to gain entrance into 

13 Clinton High School. At the time, Tennessee and 

14 Anderson County law required the segregation of 

15 secondary schools. The case became known as 

16 McSwain v. Anderson County. 

17 (4) The case was dismissed by the Federal Dis18 trict Court under the ‘‘separate but equal’’ doctrine; 

19 the case was appealed by the parents, but suspended 

20 pending a Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board 

21 of Education. 

22 (5) Following the Supreme Court’s decision in 

23 Brown v. Board of Education which abolished the 

24 ‘‘separate but equal’’ doctrine, the Federal District 

25 Court in Tennessee issued an order on January 4, 


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1 1956, requiring desegregation of Anderson County 

2 schools no later than the fall term, 1956. 

3 (6) On August 25, 1956, 12 students from 

4 Green McAdoo School met at the school before walk5 ing together to the all-white Clinton High School to 

6 become the first African-American students to effect 

7 the integration of a southern, state operated school. 

8 (7) On September 1, 1956, Clinton, Tennessee 

9 became the first southern town to be occupied by 

10 National Guard troops in an effort to quell violence 

11 sparked by protestors from all over the United 

12 States who were opposed to school integration. 

13 (8) In 1957, Bobby Cain, a former Green 

14 McAdoo student, became the first African-American 

15 to earn a diploma from an integrated school fol16 lowing the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. 

17 (9) In 1958, the newly integrated Clinton High 

18 School was destroyed by dynamite that most as19 sumed was placed by segregationists. The commu20 nity had the students back in school in four days at 

21 an abandoned elementary school in neighboring Oak 

22 Ridge, Tennessee. Anderson County rebuilt Clinton 

23 High School and it and Green McAdoo School are 

24 the only remaining schools associated with the Clin25 ton desegregation crisis. 


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1 SEC. 3. STUDY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

3 conduct a study of the site of Green McAdoo School in 

4 Clinton, Tennessee, to evaluate the national significance, 

5 suitability, and feasibility of designating the site as a unit 

6 of the National Park System. 

7 (b) CRITERIA.—In conducting the study authorized 

8 by this Act, the Secretary shall use the criteria for the 

9 study of areas for potential inclusion in the National Park 

10 System contained in section 8 of Public Law 91–383 (16 

11 U.S.C. 1a–5). 

12 (c) CONTENTS.—The study authorized by this Act 

13 shall— 

14 (1) determine the suitability and feasibility of 

15 designating the site as a unit of the National Park 

16 System; 

17 (2) include cost estimates for any necessary ac18 quisition, development, operation, and maintenance 

19 of the site; and 

20 (3) identify alternatives for the management, 

21 administration, and protection of the area. 

22 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

23 on which funds are made available for the study, the Sec24 retary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Re25 sources of the House of Representatives and the Com26 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 


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1 a report on the findings, conclusions, and recommenda2 tions of the study. 

Æ 


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