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Tent City: Stories of Civil Rights in Fayette County, Tennessee

Home Tent City: Stories of Civil Rights in Fayette County, Tennessee The Movement Fayette Timeline 1970

Fayette Timeline 1970

April 23, 1970

Fayette Teachers

Source: Press Scimitar, November 06, 1970, Special Collections, University of Memphis Libraries

The Fayette County Board of Education fires 21 teachers without notice or sufficient cause. These teachers had been teaching in predominately black schools. Actions are taken on their behalf, and twelve of them are reinstated.

October and November, 1970

John McFerren Jr

Source: McFerren Family collection.

John McFerren Jr. is bumped into his white teacher, Georgina Fowler, by a young African American female student. Fowler slams him against a wall and demands he receive disciplinary action. McFerren  is then ordered to write repetitive sentences; however, at the instruction of his parents, McFerren refuses to comply with the unjustified discipline. He is then expelled. His parents and the NAACP sue on his behalf, and the Board of Education is ordered to end McFerren's suspension and to hire a teacher to help him catch up on school work from his missed time.

John McFerren Jr. Discusses His Expulsion

2002 documentary project on Fayette County, TN: Special Collections, University of Memphis Libraries.