Name Grade 8 Reading Comprehension

Jo Ann Allen Boyce

Jo Ann Allen Boyce was a member of the Clinton 12,
twelve black students who integrated Clinton High School in
Tennessee in 1956. The school integration in Clinton stemmed
from the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in the case known as Brown vs. the
Board of Education. This landmark case reversed the decision in an earlier
lawsuit which attempted to desegregate the school several years earlier.
At first things went well for the 12 students. Then outside agitators stirred up
hatred and anger amongst the townspeople. Soon the Clinton 12 faced both
verbal and physical displays of racism from classmates and the community
alike, including threats against their lives.
Boyce and her family left Tennessee and moved to California in 1956. There,
she graduated from high school in 1958 and went on to earn a nursing degree
from Los Angeles City College. She met her husband in Los Angeles in 1959 and
they are still married.
Jo Ann is a Retired Registered Nurse, which she described as being her
"dream job." She is the author of the book about her experience in Clinton
called This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality
(Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2019. She is also the grandmother of the Disney
star Cameron Boyce, who died in 2019.

1. What was the Clinton 12?

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2. What kind of experience did the Clinton 12 have?

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