NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Bobby Cain, one of the first Black students to integrate public schools in the South in 1956 has died at the age of 85.
Cain died on Monday in Nashville.
He became the first Black student to graduate from a public formally segregated white high school (Clinton) in Tennessee during the immediate controversial years of integration following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
He graduated from Tennessee State in 1961 with a degree in social work, working for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory before being drafted into the army.
21 years later he retired from the reserves with the rank of captain and went to work at the Tennessee Department of Human Services.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at kelly.broderick@newschannel5.com
Here’s a beautiful story of how one mother turned her grief journey into a gathering of gratitude… and organ donation awareness.
Robb Coles highlights a special event organized by Cari Hollis – whose 26-year old son Austin died two years ago. Austin agreed to be an organ donor – and that single gesture saved multiple lives.
Cari reached out to as many recipients she could find – several of whom traveled to Nashville for an emotional celebration in Austin’s honor. One woman – whose life was saved by receiving Austin’s lungs – put it simply: “He’s my angel”.
- Rhori Johnston
