Maxwell in Nashville in Davidson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Kelley vs. Board of Education of Nashville / East High School
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 4, 2020
1. Kelley vs. Board of Education side of the marker
Inscription.
Kelley vs. Board of Education of Nashville, also, East High School. .
Kelley vs. Board of Education of Nashville. One year after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision, Robert W. Kelley, an American Black, was lured away from East High School when he attempted to enroll on September 1, 1955. Kelley's father, A. Z. Kelley, represented by attorneys Z. Alexander Looby, Thurgood Marshall, and Avon N. Williams, Jr., filed a class action suit to end school segregation in Nashville. Their 1956 victory forced the city to develop a desegregation plan by 1957. Known as the "grade-a-year plan," the Nashville strategy became the model for other communities across the South.,
East High School. Designed by the architectural firm of Marr and Holman. East High School opened in the fall of 1932. Four years later, the junior high school building was constructed by the Public Works Administration, a depression era jobs program. To honor alumni killed in World War II, in 1946 the memorial clock tower was added to the high school building. A number of notable Nashvillians graduated from East High School, including mayors, civic leaders, and internationally acclaimed entertainer Oprah Winfrey.
Kelley vs. Board of Education of Nashville
One year after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision, Robert W. Kelley, an American Black, was lured away from East High School when he attempted to enroll on September 1, 1955. Kelley's father, A. Z. Kelley, represented by attorneys Z. Alexander Looby, Thurgood Marshall, and Avon N. Williams, Jr., filed a class action suit to end school segregation in Nashville. Their 1956 victory forced the city to develop a desegregation plan by 1957. Known as the "grade-a-year plan," the Nashville strategy became the model for other communities across the South.
East High School
Designed by the architectural firm of Marr & Holman. East High School opened in the fall of 1932. Four years later, the junior high school building was constructed by the Public Works Administration, a depression era jobs program. To honor alumni killed in World War II, in 1946 the memorial clock tower was added to the high school building. A number of notable Nashvillians graduated from East High School, including mayors, civic leaders, and internationally acclaimed entertainer Oprah Winfrey.
Erected by Tennessee Historical Commission. (Marker Number 3A 185.)
Location. 36° 10.785′ N, 86° 45.015′ W. Marker is in Nashville, Tennessee, in Davidson County. It is in Maxwell. Marker can be reached from Gallatin Avenue just south of North 11th Street, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 110 Gallatin Avenue, Nashville TN 37206, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, April 4, 2020
2. East High School side of the marker
New Deal
Photographed By Lugnuts, February 20, 2020
3. East High School side of the marker
Photographed By Lugnuts, February 20, 2020
4. East High School
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 25, 2020, by Lugnuts of Germantown, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 354 times since then and 56 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on April 5, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 3, 4. submitted on February 25, 2020, by Lugnuts of Germantown, Wisconsin. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
