A Gala was hosted at The Fly Arts Center Saturday night celebrating the May 23, 1966, graduates from the Bedford County Training School. They were the last all-African American class to graduate before Bedford County was desegregated in 1967. Funding received from this event provided scholarships to benefit the “Senior Class of 2024.”
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- Joe Frazier was one of the winners of the door prize giveaway at the event.
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- From left, Dora Tillman, Shirley Owens, Marie Castleman, and Della Nelson.
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- From left, Pastor John Thomas Jr., from the Galilee Baptist Church, with Tiffany Thomas and Shirley Dandy.
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- Shelbyville-Bedford County Community Clinic Director Fredia Flack Lusk with a book she co-authored highlighting the history of African Americans in Bedford County from 1820 to 2020.
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- Ivan Draine received a $500 scholarship from the event. It was presented by Lisa Carden, left.
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- Kyler Trice received a $500 scholarship from the event. It was presented by Lisa Carden, left.
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- Standing, from left, Steve and Stacie Bowers, from Cooper Christian Academy; Rosie Biggs, from the Gilliland Historical Society; Albert Nelson, from the Nelson and Sons Funeral Home, on the event’s sponsors; and seated, Mary Brame.
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- James E. Claybourne
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- Gladys Flack
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- Shirley and William Head. William Head was the guest speaker at the event. He spoke on the importance of preserving and writing down local African American history.
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- Miss Shelbyville Teen Lydia Sanders, left, and Miss Lynchburg Keenan Pasztor.
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- Members of the May 23, 1966 event committee.
