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Clinton 12

First Black student to graduate during Southern integration dies at 85

By Marianna Bacallao

September 23, 2025

Bobby Cain made history as the first Black student to graduate from an integrated high school in the South. He died in Nashville on Monday at the age of 85.

Filed Under: History, WPLN News Tagged With: civil rights, civil rights movement, Clinton 12, East Tennessee, integration, Tennessee State University

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