In front of this small museum an eye-catching statue portrays the 12 African American high-school students who desegregated Clinton High School in 1956. Twenty miles northwest of Knoxville, Clinton was the first state-supported school in the South to integrate, and exhibits trace the fascinating story of the students and the school. Although integration began peacefully, with support from the community and the state, white supremacists from elsewhere initiated a violent response that culminated in the bombing of the school.