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S 2207 ISRS

110th CONGRESS Calendar No. 794

1st 110th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 2207

[Report No. 110-362]

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating Green McAdoo School in Clinton, Tennessee as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

October 19, 2007

Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. CORKER, and Mr. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

June 16, 2008

Reported by Mr. BINGAMAN, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

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A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating Green McAdoo School in Clinton, Tennessee as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `‘Green McAdoo School National Historic Site Study Act of 2007'8’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.GREEN MCADOO SCHOOL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.

Congress finds that--(1) the formerly segregated all-black Green McAdoo School and all-white Clinton High School, both located in Clinton, Tennessee, played a vital role in the school desegregation crisis that preceded and followed the decision of the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954;(2) Green McAdoo School opened as the Clinton Colored School in 1935 and was renamed in 1947 to honor Green McAdoo, a buffalo soldier who once owned the land on which the school was built;(3) in 1950, the parents of 5 Clinton, Tennessee, children filed a lawsuit to gain entrance into Clinton High School;(4) at the time of the lawsuit, Tennessee and Anderson County law required the segregation of secondary schools;(5) the lawsuit became known as `McSwain v. Anderson County';(6) the lawsuit, which was dismissed by the Federal District Court under the `separate but equal' doctrine, was appealed by the parents, but was suspended pending a Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education;(7) following the decision of the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education, which abolished the `separate but equal' doctrine, the Federal District Court in Tennessee issued an order on January 4, 1956, requiring desegregation of Anderson County schools by not later than the 1956 fall term;(8) on August 27, 1956, 12 students from Green McAdoo School met at the school before walking together to the all-white Clinton High School to become the first African-American students to integrate a Southern, State-operated school;(9) on September 1, 1956, Clinton, Tennessee, became the first Southern town to be occupied by National Guard troops in an effort to quell violence sparked by protestors from all over the United States who were opposed to school integration;(10) in 1957, Bobby Cain, a former Green McAdoo student, became the first African-American to earn a diploma from an integrated school following the Brown v. Board of Education ruling;(11) in 1958, the newly integrated Clinton High School was destroyed by dynamite that most assumed was placed by segregationists;(12) 4 days after Clinton High School was destroyed, the community had the students back in school at an abandoned elementary school in neighboring Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and(13) Clinton High School, which was rebuilt by Anderson County, and the Green McAdoo School are the only remaining schools associated with the Clinton desegregation crisis.SEC. 3. STUDY.(a) In General- The Secretary of the Interior (referred to in this Act as the `Secretary'‘Secretary’) shall conduct a special resource study of the site of Green McAdoo School in Clinton, Tennessee, (referred to in this Act as the `site'‘site’) to evaluate--

(1) the national significance of the site; and

(2) the suitability and feasibility of designating the site as a unit of the National Park System.

(b) Criteria- In conducting the study under subsection (a), the Secretary shall use the criteria for the study of areas for potential inclusion in the National Park System under section 8(c) of Public Law 91-383 (16 U.S.C. 1a-5).(c)).

(c) Contents- The study authorized by this Act shall--

(1) determine the suitability and feasibility of designating the site as a unit of the National Park System;

(2) include cost estimates for any necessary acquisition, development, operation, and maintenance of the site; and

(3) identify alternatives for the management, administration, and protection of the site.

(d) Report- Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds are made available to carry out the study under subsection (a)is Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that describes--

(1) the findings and conclusions of the study; and

(2) any recommendations of the Secretary.

Calendar No. 794

110th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 2207

[Report No. 110-362]

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating Green McAdoo School in Clinton, Tennessee as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes.

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June 16, 2008

Reported with an amendment