Clear View High School
Location
Pickens County, South Carolina
Information
Closed1969

Clear View High School was a segregated all-black high school for Black Students in Pickens County, South Carolina. It was closed in 1969 and the students redirected to Easley High School when Federal courts mandated that public schools must be integrated.[1][2][3] Many Black residents strongly objected to the Closure of Clear View, and U.S. Representative William Jennings Bryan Dorn took up the cause with the HEW.[4] The location later became known as the J.T. Simpson Alternative school and is now the site of the Pickens County Head Start program and the Dream Center.[5]

History

In 1963, the student enrollment in grades 8-12 was 440.[6]

Integration

In 1967, civil rights officials from the HEW visited Pickens County, and announced $700,000 in Federal Funds would be withheld until the school system came up with an acceptable integration plan. Busing students outside their neighborhood to maintain segregation was specifically prohibited. The all-white school board came up with a plan that would immediately close all of the Black schools in the county except one. Simpson Elementary, which was adjacent to Clear View was to be closed the next year and converted to a community center.[7] While the board of trustees claimed the decision to close the Black schools was forced on them by the HEW, local activist R.D. Cox obtained a letter from the secretary of the HEW that stated otherwise.[7][1]

References

  1. 1 2 Bowie, Aubrey (November 24, 1968). "Closing Clear View High School disturbs negroes". Greenville News. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  2. ↑ Bowie, Aubrey (March 25, 1969). "Pickens School Trustees add 2 projects to building program". Greenville News. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "Clear View High School to be closed: Black students integrated to Easley High School". November 7, 1968. p. 7 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Bowie, Aubery (December 4, 1968). "School should remain open, Dorn asserts". Greenville News. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  5. ↑ "Clearview-Simpson Academy".
  6. ↑ "Clear View High School, Easley Sout Carolina, enrollment 440 in 8-12". Newspapers.com. 1963-09-25. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  7. 1 2 Bowie, Aubrey (July 23, 1969). "Cox again protests closing of school". Greenville News. Retrieved 3 June 2022.

34°50′03″N 82°36′31″W / 34.8343°N 82.6087°W / 34.8343; -82.6087


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