NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — This past week marked the 60th anniversary of one of the instrumental events that helped shape Nashville's history during the Civil Rights Movement.
One Nashville school held a panel discussion about this historic event to educate its students and teach them about the high school basketball game that was more than just a game as Father Ryan students shuffled into the theatre to get a peek at the past.
It was the first game in the South between an integrated Ryan team and an all-Black Pearl team.
"We went to the barbershop and everyone was talking about how Pearl was going to annihilate Father Ryan," said Deacon Bill Hill, a former Father Ryan basketball player. "
"We had a lot of talent on the team, and we were looking forward to the Father Ryan game because we knew they had talent," said Joe Herbert, a former Pearl basketball player.
"I knew many on that Pearl team. They were big. They were strong. They were fast. They were mean. Just in terms of athletic ability, they were up here and we were there," Hill said.
"The game took place at Memorial Auditorium in 1965. It was a sellout. there was a lot of energy in the building. Everyone was excited about what was going to take place at the ball game," Herbert said.
Pearl led most of the game but Ryan trailed by just a point with time winding down.
"They set it up for Willie brown to get the last shot. He had the last shot but unfortunately missed it. Len Dempsey got the rebound and put it back up with about a second left. Shock and amazement," Hill said.
Father Ryan won the game here at Municipal Auditorium that night but the real victors may have been the city of Nashville and that's the lesson these panelists hope that these students remember.
"It might sound funny to say it 60 years later, they learned that regardless of skin color, people can be in community together. People could experience together. People could love each other across racial lines," said Dr. Russell Wingginton.
"People think this was so long ago," said Hannah Marie Dixie, a Father Ryan student. "This really was so close to our generation and we really do have a chance as the youth now to further that aspect of community and really bring people together and add our own change to a greater sense of community."
And 60 years later, those 32 minutes of basketball continue to resonate throughout Nashville and beyond.
"Don't let this be the final chapter or the conclusion to the story. Let's keep this story going," Herbert said.
