Paul Turner (pastor)
Paul Turner (February 10, 1923 - December 18, 1980) was an American Baptist pastor notable for his efforts in the integration of Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee. Integration crisis. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in "Brown v. Board of Education", Clinton High School was ordered in the fall of 1956 to be the first Tennessee high school to desegregate. While twelve black students started attending the school, after extensive riots and physical violence, they decided to boycott school in an effort to force the federal courts to intervene. Rev. Turner, pastor of the white  First Baptist Church of Clinton, and a respected leader in the community, felt he needed "to lead our church to do the right thing." Spurred by his reading of the Bible and the writings of Olin T. Binkley of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, he began preaching against prejudice. After the black students' boycott, on December 4, 1956, Turner escorted them back to school amid a hostile crowd. Upon his return, he was severely beaten by members of the local White Citizens' Council. Despite significant injuries, the next Sunday, he preached that "there is no color line at the cross of  Jesus." Subsequent life. Turner hoped to attend divinity school but was long unable to obtain the money. In 1958, he moved to another church in Nashville, where he continued to be active in the civil rights movement. He later became a professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. After being dismissed from his professorate in 1980, Turner committed suicide. His family claimed that "his spirit was broken" due to his experiences in Clinton.