MOULTRIE — This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the landmark Brown

vs. The Board of Education of Topeka decision. But it was 16 years later

before integration was full-fledged in Moultrie.

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled that school systems

across the nation could not discriminate a student’s choice of schools

because of their race. The Court’s decision overturned the 1896 decision

of “separate but equal,” established by the Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme

Court case.

Here in Moultrie, the effects of Brown vs. The Board of Education were

not fully felt until the former all-black William Bryant High School and

the all-white Moultrie Senior High School were integrated. The school

system did allow students from William Bryant to attend Moultrie High at

their choosing as early as the 1965-’66 school year, but the schools

were not fully integrated until the fall of 1970. That year, William

Bryant became a junior high school and Moultrie High became Moultrie’s

only public high school.

Dale Williams, of the City of Moultrie Human Resources Department, is a

1969 graduate of William Bryant High School. February is officially

Black History Month and recalling those days, Williams said the total

student body at the time of his graduation was 500 students, all sixth

grade to 12th grade.

Williams said the school board sent out a letter each spring to students

informing them they could stay at William Bryant or finish schooling at

Moultrie Senior High. He chose to stay at William Bryant for several

reasons, but one reason in particular was his involvement in athletics.

“I was the starting quarterback at William Bryant,” Williams said, “and I

don’t think I would have had the same opportunities at Moultrie High.”

Williams said he felt the integration of the two schools was “abrupt,”

and that William Bryant would always be there.

“I always thought about coming back, being part of the faculty and

coaching football at William Bryant High School,” Williams said.

The faculties of both high schools were the first to see integration in

the 1960’s, Williams said. The white faculty coming over to William

Bryant were faculty close to retirement, but Moultrie High was getting

the best of the William Bryant faculty, he said.

The students who attended William Bryant hold both individual class

reunions and a collective bi-annual reunion to remember William Bryant

High, Williams said. The Ram Roundup is open to any student who attended

William Bryant High.

Every two years, the Roundup brings 200 to 300 people here, which has a

significant economic impact on the community, Williams said.

For anyone who does not know the namesake of William Bryant High School,

Williams said it is his understanding that William Bryant was the first

principal of The Moultrie High School for Negro Youth in the 1930’s. The

name was changed to honor Bryant in 1959.