III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 905 

Recognizing the role of the Scarboro 85 in the desegregation of public schools 

following the landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United 

States in Brown v. Board of Education. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 21 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 20), 2024 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Mr. HAGERTY) submitted the following 

resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the role of the Scarboro 85 in the desegregation 

of public schools following the landmark decision of the 

Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Board 

of Education. 

Whereas, on May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United 

States delivered a unanimous opinion in Brown v. Board 

of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), holding that— 

(1) separate educational facilities are inherently unequal; and 

(2) the ‘‘separate but equal’’ doctrine violated the 

14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United 

States, which states that no citizen may be denied equal 

protection under the law; 


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•SRES 905 ATS 

Whereas, in a second opinion issued on May 31, 1955, the 

Supreme Court of the United States decreed that schools 

should be desegregated ‘‘with all deliberate speed’’; 

Whereas, on September 6, 1955, Oak Ridge High School and 

Robertsville Junior High, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, became the first public schools in the Southeast 

region to implement the ruling of the Supreme Court of 

the United States in Brown v. Board of Education; 

Whereas the integration of Oak Ridge High School and 

Robertsville Junior High was conducted in a peaceful 

manner; 

Whereas the ‘‘Scarboro 85’’ consisted of the 85 African 

American students from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, who led 

the historic integration of public schools in the Southeast, 

including— 

(1) Ernestine Avery; 

(2) Donald Avery; 

(3) Willis Lee Avery; 

(4) Richard Bates; 

(5) Robert Berry; 

(6) Will C. Booker; 

(7) Stella Brantley; 

(8) Marshall Butler; 

(9) Jaqueline Bynam; 

(10) William Henry Carroll; 

(11) Pete Clark; 

(12) Randolph Collins; 

(13) Evindies Copeland; 

(14) Ethel Davidson; 

(15) Minnie Davidson; 

(16) Lola B. Dowdell; 

(17) Georgia Lee Dowdell; 


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•SRES 905 ATS 

(18) James Drake; 

(19) Willie Lee Edwards; 

(20) Shirley Reed Freeman; 

(21) John D. Ghosten Jr.; 

(22) L.C. Gipson; 

(23) Nannie Mae Goodman; 

(24) Lawrence Graham; 

(25) Mazie Graham; 

(26) Rufus Graham; 

(27) Henry Fred Guinn; 

(28) Gwendolyn Guinn; 

(29) Margaret Strickland Guinn; 

(30) Eugene Hawkins; 

(31) Roberta Hawkins; 

(32) Shirley Hawkins; 

(33) Helen Hill; 

(34) Mable Jean Hill; 

(35) Robert Hill; 

(36) Deloris Holmes; 

(37) Edward Holmes; 

(38) Dorothy Ann Hudgens; 

(39) A.C. Hunter Jr.; 

(40) Webster Jackson; 

(41) Leroy Justice; 

(42) Willie Frank Kirk; 

(43) Archie Lee; 

(44) Jo Ann Lee; 

(45) Charles Lewis; 

(46) Dorothy Kirk Lewis; 

(47) Jimmy Lewis; 

(48) Spencer Lindsay; 

(49) Ernestine Maddox; 

(50) Bernice Mahone; 


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•SRES 905 ATS 

(51) Leon Mahone; 

(52) Mary Ellen Mahone; 

(53) Winfred Malone; 

(54) Barbara Jean Mason; 

(55) Emma McCaskill; 

(56) Paul Kylene McCaskill; 

(57) Jesse McClanahan; 

(58) Alma McKinney; 

(59) Eloise Mitchell; 

(60) Maxine Officer; 

(61) Barbara Sue Perry; 

(62) Bobby Phillips; 

(63) Amos William Robinson; 

(64) Arthur Charles Robinson; 

(65) Hazel Marie Robinson; 

(66) C.H. Shannon; 

(67) Mary Jo Shannon; 

(68) Barbara Jean Sims; 

(69) Willy Smith; 

(70) Sarah Mae Spratling; 

(71) Emma Jean Strickland; 

(72) Pearl Strickland; 

(73) Frank Summerville; 

(74) Joe Summerville; 

(75) Edward Lewis Threat; 

(76) Joe Torry; 

(77) Charles Walker; 

(78) Estelle Warmley; 

(79) Donald Washington; 

(80) Joe West Jr.; 

(81) Roy Lee White; 

(82) Leroy Williams; 

(83) Nehemiah Williams; and 


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•SRES 905 ATS 

(84) 2 additional students, names unknown; 

Whereas Lawrence Graham Jr., Henry Fred Guinn, and 

Robert Berry of the Scarboro 85 were the first African 

American students to participate in public school and 

university athletics in the Southeast region; 

Whereas African American staff members of Oak Ridge High 

School and Robertsville Junior High included— 

(1) Fred Brown; 

(2) Douglas Freeman; 

(3) Hurley Hardin; 

(4) Ms. McSwain; 

(5) Mrs. Roach; 

(6) Madeline Scales; and 

(7) Mrs. Vernon; and 

Whereas the Scarboro 85 were aided by pillars of the Oak 

Ridge community, including— 

(1) the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church; 

(2) the Oak Valley Baptist Church; 

(3) the Spurgeon Chapel African American Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; and 

(4) the Scarboro Church of Christ: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate recognizes and cele2 brates— 

3 (1) the Scarboro 85 as the first group of Afri4 can American students to integrate public schools in 

5 the Southeast region following the landmark decision 

6 of the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown 

7 v. Board of Education; and 


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•SRES 905 ATS 

1 (2) the role of the Scarboro 85 in leading the 

2 desegregation movement in the Southeast region. 

Æ 


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