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Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan joins in unveiling of marker for Bailey Cobb School

City of Clarksville - Clarksville, TNClarksville, TN – A historical marker was unveiled Saturday to memorialize Bailey Cobb Elementary School, which stood from 1879 to 1977 and played a major role in the education of Clarksville’s black children until school desegregation was implemented in the 1970s.

Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan joined other dignitaries for the ceremony near the city’s Burt Cobb Community Center on Franklin Street, near the school site.

Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan joined members of the Bailey Cobb Elementary Historical Committee on Saturday for the unveiling of a historical marker at the school site.
Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan joined members of the Bailey Cobb Elementary Historical Committee on Saturday for the unveiling of a historical marker at the school site.

“The marker was a long time in planning, and it’s a fitting tribute to the memory of Cobb Elementary and the important work of educating young people that was accomplished there for many decades,” Mayor McMillan said. “I commend the Bailey Cobb Historical Committee for their dedication and hard work on this project to honor our city’s heritage.”

The school was built in 1879 and housed grades one through 11 until 1922, when Burt High School was constructed nearby. In 1951, the Board of Education named the school in honor of Bailey T. Cobb, a leading black educator in the community.

Bailey Cobb Elementary closed in 1973 as black students transferred to other community schools, but it was used for kindergarten classes until 1975, and then was razed in 1977.

Olympian Wilma Rudolph attended the school as a child and later taught there in the 1960s.

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