Mayfield Ten facts for kids
The Mayfield Ten were ten African-American students. In 1956, they made a brave choice. They decided to attend the all-white high school in Mayfield, Kentucky. This was a big step for civil rights.
Mayfield High School was the main white high school. It was built in 1908. The Mayfield Ten came from Dunbar High School. Dunbar was the school for Black students.
Dunbar High School: A Separate School
During the time of Jim Crow laws, there was a lot of racial unfairness. In the 1890s, Mayfield saw some violence because of race. By 1900, Graves County had twenty schools for Black students. Not many students finished high school from these schools.
The "Dunbar Colored School" first started in a private building. It offered only primary grades. In 1908, it joined the city schools. This helped it get money from the state. Dunbar High School opened in 1921. It was in a new building. This building was funded by the Rosenwald Fund. Primary classes were on the first floor. Secondary classes were on the second. Many Rosenwald schools in western Kentucky were not well kept. They also had very few supplies.
In May 1954, a federal court ordered schools to integrate. This meant Black and white students could go to school together. State officials tried to follow this order. But many local school leaders refused. We don't know who the Superintendent of Mayfield Schools was then. But Paul Craig was the principal of Mayfield High School. Fred Stiger was the principal of Dunbar School.
The Mayfield Ten: Integrating Mayfield High School (1956)
One of the Mayfield Ten was Alice Monyette Wilson. She shared her story in an interview. She said a group of ninth graders decided to integrate the school. They made this decision on their own.
Alice Wilson remembered their brave choice: "We talked about it more and more. It became very serious. We decided maybe we should try. And we did. The day we walked into the building was a real shock. Nobody expected it. There was no warning about this. So the ten of us walked into the main office. There was a kind of registration in August. We found out when that date was. Then we went to the high school to register. We saw many shocked faces. We announced we were there to register. We wanted to attend Mayfield High School."
These ten students entered Mayfield High School in the fall of 1956. The situation was tense. But it was mostly peaceful. Alice Wilson looked back on those days. She remembered the surprise of the school staff.
She said: "They were absolutely shocked that we had walked in. And we did register. I'm sure the telephones were ringing off the hook. This involved the teachers there. It also involved the City Council. They had to figure out how to handle this. I'm sure it caused a lot of confusion. But our registration was not stopped. The City Council and decision-makers did not block it."
This was not always the case in other places. Many other integration efforts were not so smooth. For example, a nearby town, Sturgis, Kentucky, had problems. White people strongly resisted integration there. This even got international attention.
Alice Wilson described registering for the all-white high school. She said: "I don't remember being afraid in the office. They didn't make us feel that way. But the feeling was that no one knew what to do. Should they register us? Or wait for a decision from the school board? They didn't really know. But we registered. Then the whole process began."
Going to Mayfield High School was optional. For the first time, students could choose. They could go to Dunbar High School or Mayfield High School. The Brown v. Board of Education court decision had said separate schools were not equal. So the Mayfield Ten chose Mayfield High School. They wanted more chances. They wanted better learning materials. They wanted to get a wider education. They knew they would get a better education at the all-white school. Even if it was hard every day.
Only two of the Mayfield Ten finished high school on time. The others had to repeat a grade. Or they failed. Or they just didn't catch up as quickly.
The only clear opposition came from white students. They would refuse to go to class. They would stand outside as a protest. Alice Wilson remembered this happening "off and on for quite a while." She said it lasted "at least a year and a half." She also remembered local police cars. They would drive around the school in the mornings. Sometimes, family friends would drive the students. If they heard anything on the radio, they would pick them up.
One day, a large crowd gathered outside the school. They were protesting the Black students. The Mayfield Ten walked right through the crowd. Their principal took them into the building. Wilson said the principal handled the protesters well. He just went in. He let them know nothing would stop. He told them they could stand outside all day or come to class. He tried to keep things quiet. He didn't want anyone to get hurt.
Alice Wilson said the protesters were disappointed. No one paid much attention to them. State trooper cars were there. But no cameras or news crews. The school day just kept going without them. Eventually, the protesters gave up and went inside. Alice Wilson said this kind of incident never happened again.
Impact: Opening Doors for the Future
By attending Mayfield High School, the Mayfield Ten created many new chances. These chances were not available to Black students in Graves County, Kentucky. This integration in 1956 was only a start. But the Ten were brave. They risked a lot to get a better education.
Dunbar High School closed in 1966. To people outside, Mayfield High School seemed integrated. But if you looked closely, few Black students had truly equal access. This was because of the strong segregation at the time. In 1966, Kentucky passed the Civil Rights Act. It was the first of its kind in the South. Only one senator voted against it. That senator was from Graves County.
