The Memphis 13/Gordon Elementary School

The Memphis 13/Gordon Elementary School. . Front , The first African-American students to enroll in Gordon Elementary School were Sharon Malone, Sheila Malone, Pamela Mayes, and Alvin Freeman. They were chosen in part because they lived closer to traditionally white schools than to African-American schools where they otherwise would have been assigned. "Gordon was two blocks from our house," said Sharon Malone. "All we had to do was cross one street to get to Gordon. We had to go 13 blocks to get to Klondike." Her twin sister, Sheila Malone Conway, remembered how soon the ending of segregation in the city schools was forgotten. "It's sad that this happened in Memphis and the people don't know." As for follow-up from those who had selected them, Conway recalled only a Christmas party. "You did something to change this city, and they should have followed up to see how we're doing. It's just the fact that we were forgotten." Also to be remembered are the dedicated parents of these students: Mary Elizabeth Malone, Henryene Mayes, and Ozell Freeman. , Back , In implementing the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decision outlawing school segregation by race, the Memphis Board of Education ultimately agreed in 1961 to a plan to integrate the schools. The Memphis Branch of the NAACP recruited 200 applicants, and 13 African-American first graders were selected to integrate four elementary schools. This phased-in approach, adding a grade per year, was regarded as the safest way to desegregate the schools. Without violence on October 3, 1961, the students enrolled in Bruce, Gordon, Rozelle, and Springdale Elementary schools. After opening day they were on their own. During the course of the year and those that followed, their social isolation and educational progress were left unmonitored. Despite their difficulties, these 13 "pint-sized pioneers" struck a fatal blow to school segregation and claimed their place in Memphis history.