One day I asked Fay if she had known the Ijams family who were involved with Girl Scouts in Knoxville. She said that she knew the family and had visited at their house. Fay did not tell me Mrs. Harry Ijams and Mrs. W.E. Ijams had been on the National Board of Directors at different times. Elizabeth Ijams, daughter of Mr, and Mrs, Harry Ijams, had attended the Macy Director Training with her in 1930.I had discovered that information going through Fay's papers. Fay did tell me that National asked Fay and Elizabeth (Izzie) Ijams to direct one of the first integrated leader training in this area. The training must have been going fine until it came to the over-night part. Fay told me that the Klan invaded the camp and told the women that they didn't think it was right for southern women to sleep in the same tents with negro women. Izzie Ijams told the men that if they were real southern gentlemen, they had no business coming into the women's tents. They shamed the Klan into leaving. The women may have been afraid, but they were determined to do the right thing. I think this occurred in the early to middle 1950's.

To really appreciate the significance and potential dangers of the time, one only has to look to Clinton, TN, ten miles away and what happened when a group of black students, who have become known as the "Clinton 12", integrated Clinton High School. Judge Robert Taylor of the U.S. District Court of Knoxville, TN, ordered the School Board to end segregation in the fall of 1956. These students were the first to desegregate a state supported Tennessee high school, or in any southern state. Some White Citizens Council agitators came to town to incite violence and to intimidate the students. There was so much protest, rioting, threats of bombs that the Governor sent in the National Guard to keep order. A white minister was severely beaten after escorting the black students to the school. There were cross-burnings on the lawns of teachers and civic leaders who supported integration. The slate of White Citizen Council in the Dec.1956, election was defeated. The first black student graduated in May 1957. Then on Oct.5,1958, the high school was bombed. The students were bussed to Oak Ridge to use the empty Linden elementary school until the school was rebuilt.

Oak Ridge was a government owned and segregated town until 1955 since it was involved in the development of the Atomic Bomb. The town was surrounded by a security fence with entrance only through guard gates until 1949. In January 1955, the Superintendent of Oak Ridge Schools announced that the Atomic Energy Commission mandated schedule of school desegregation would begin in September 1955.

The book "And The Fence Came Down", has a number of stories about the effort to integrate with Girl Scout activities in Oak Ridge TN in 1947-49. One story in particular was really neat. The federal government would not allow black girls to "attend an integrated activity inside an official building; so, the Girl Scouts held it Outside." Later, the government allowed the Negro Girl Scouts to attend an event, but only if seated in the back of the room. The director, Evelyn Harris, had some of the Negro Girl Scouts be the flag bearers for the flag ceremony. This was always an honor for the girls. "A Girl Scout Play Day was the first known integrated city-wide activity for Oak Ridge Youth." Some of the leaders did receive anonymous phone calls "threatening their children or homes, cross burning the whole bit "but they continued; because they believed that the law to be "a friend to all and a sister to every other Girl Scout regardless of color or creed. No child would be excluded." The Girl Scout leaders in the town and area took the law to heart and helped change minds. There was no problem with the Girl Scouts for school integration since that had been encouraged since the earliest days.

It was a demonstration of the conviction and courage to stand up against the hatred and institutionalized bigotry of the time. We should all thank and salute them for helping to end segregation.

Sherrie

P.S. Just to give another picture of the racial tension of the time, my daughter told me a story while she worked at the Highlander Research and Education Center. In 1958 Eleanor Roosevelt was planning to attend a civil rights workshop at the then Highlander Folk School. The Klan found out about the workshop. They put a $25,000 bounty on her head. The FBI said that they could not protect her and that she couldn't go. Eleanor Roosevelt said that she was going anyway. A little old lady (71) picked up the 74 year old Eleanor Roosevelt at the airport in Nashville. For protection they had a gun on the seat as they drove to Monteagle and the Highlander. We have since been able to verify that this was a true story. Eleanor Roosevelt had been the Honorary President of Girl Scouts as First Lady. -sc

The book "And The Fence Came Down" is available at the Girl Scout Museum at the Tanasi Council.

There is a detailed article about the Clinton12 and Clinton Desegregation and in the book "Tennessee Encyclopedia."

• Here is a link to the Eleanor Roosevelt story. It is a pro-gun site, but has interesting info and pictures.
• Here is a link if you would like to read more about the Highlander
• Here is a link to the if you would like to read more about the Clinton, TN and the desegregation crisis.