CLINTON, Tenn. (WATE) — Bobby Cain, a member of the Clinton 12, died Monday, according to the Green McAdoo Cultural Center. He was 85 years old.

In 1956, Clinton High School became the first public school in the South to desegregate after the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education ruled "separate but equal" unconstitutional. The 12 Black students who enrolled in the previously all-white school are now known as the Clinton 12.

The Green McAdoo Center called Cain a "reluctant hero" who had no interest in desegregating Clinton High. He wanted to finish his senior year at Austin High School, but a court order left him with no choice but to attend Clinton High, the center said.

"The burden of a post-Brown v. Board America and the weight of the world rested on this young man's

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