First Black Student to Graduate from All-White Public School in 1966 Shares Her Story

Nationwide — Mary Smith-Blackmon, an African American woman from Canton, Mississippi, who became the first Black student to graduate from the town’s all-white public school in 1966, remembers both the struggles and the small victories of her journey. Despite harassment and isolation, she graduated with honors and later devoted over 30 years to teaching.

In 1965, Mary Smith-Blackmon, along with Bobbie Ruth Chinn and Phill George, transferred from the all-Black Rogers High to Canton High, a predominantly white school. From the first day, they faced hostility.

“We tried to walk down the main walk into the building. We got hit with a few little items. They threw, and they hit us with acorns that fell from those draping trees that were there, but we got in,” Smith-Blackmon told WLBT.

The harassment continued in classrooms. Mary remembered being sprayed at her desk while classmates laughed. Teachers enforced silence once class started, but the isolation remained. School officials made sure the three students were separated, and she never had classes with Chinn.

At one point, a white male student kicked her chair. When Mary spoke up, she was suspended for two weeks. The three hoped to transfer back to Rogers High, but state law prevented multiple transfers, and school officials refused. Eventually, Chinn withdrew, George’s family moved, and Mary faced her senior year alone.

Even amid the challenges, support appeared unexpectedly. A white classmate quietly gave Mary enough graduation tickets for her family. “She was like an angel. She would be watching over me,” Mary remembered, keeping the classmate’s identity private out of respect.

In May 1966, Mary graduated with honors, making history in Canton and setting a precedent for desegregation in Mississippi. She later attended Tougaloo College and Jackson State University, majoring in education. She later returned to Canton, teaching for over three decades and mentoring countless students.

Reflecting on her journey, Mary said, “We needed people to do that. It was hard, but what we have to remember is that opportunity follows struggle. If nobody is out there to struggle, then opportunities don’t come.”

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First Black Student to Graduate from All-White Public School in 1966 Shares Her Story