A historical marker in East Nashville honors four brave students who led desegregation efforts at a high school.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A historical marker in East Nashville honors four brave students who led desegregation efforts at a high school.
Stratford High School opened in East Nashville in 1961 and it was the last high school established by the Davidson County School Board prior to Metro consolidation. In 1963, under the Nashville Desegregation “Grade-A-Year” plan, Black students Pamela Franklin, Beverly Page Ward, Bernadine Price Rabathaly and Brenda Harris Haywood enrolled as 7th graders.
That was an experience that Ward told News 2 she would remember forever.
“The one thing that stands in my mind is that the three of us walked into the gym and at that time I think it was 7th through the 11th grade,” Ward said. “All we heard was the N-word and go home and all of that.”
Rabathaly remembered her emotions that day as she walked amid a crowd of protestors that gathered at the entrance of the school prior to the first bell.
“[It was] very scary, because we’re, what, 12 years old?” Rabathly said. “Walking through the hall and you have all the cameras and people there and a lot of people weren’t too happy about that.”
The former students said that they carried Bibles in their backpacks and trusted their parents’ decisions to send them to the school amid a shift that was happening across Tennessee at the time
“What they told us at that time, I knew we were the antithesis of that, we were the opposite of that,” Haywood told News 2. “…They traumatized us, but not to the point that we were going to go back. We had heard too many negro spirituals, and you can’t make me turn around.”
“We came from religious backgrounds, and our parents told us to be strong and we have our faith,” said Rabathaly.
More than 60 years later, three of the four women attended Thursday’s celebration of the historical marker honoring the 1963 integration of Stratford School. It’s an effort that has been in the works since 2019, led by those both in the community and in Metro government. The gesture is one that prompted a new perspective for some the former students.
“That’s when it all came to me and I start realizing this was really a big deal but at the time I didn’t,” Ward added. “We just came to school every day and did what we did.”
The marker is located on the school campus near the brick pedestals, which used to hold the original Stratford high school sign on the Stratford Avenue block face, symbolizing a bond that started on the steps of the school six decades ago.
“The marker celebrates the four honorees as well as the school overall and the history of the school,” Metro Countilmember for District 7, Emily Benedict, said. “It was the third high school that was built, according to the Nashville school board, right at the time that the city became a metropolitan government. So the historical marker will speak to both the school history as well as the history of these four young girls at the time.”
The group told News 2 that they have kept in touch frequently and have grown their bond, which they said now feels more like sisterhood. They saw the marker as a testament to sacrifices they made together.
“We still need to bring forth and teach people what has happened and what is still happening, said Rabathaly.
It’s also a testament to their faith, and what they said was God’s protection and guidance.
“I am thankful to God that he let us live to see this because usually historical markers are given to people who have died and gone on,” said Ward.