The late Dr. Thomas Clyburn remembered

hearing the sound of his patent leather loafers on the floor of a Blue Bird bus

while stepping out of his seat and walking down the aisle to the front, then

down the steps on the first day of school in 11th grade. The setting was unfamiliar.

Earlier that day, Clyburn showed up

for class at Booker High School where he was an honors student. He was asked to

wait outside, near the main office and didn’t know why. A bus pulled up. “Are

you Thomas Clyburn?” driver Robert Graham asked. “Yes, I am,” the teenager

replied. “I’m here to take you to school, not here.” The driver and passenger

took the route from Myrtle Avenue to North Washington Boulevard to Sarasota

High School. Students were everywhere. “Good luck. I’ll come back to pick you

up.” The bus driver dropped him off in front of the gothic style building. When

he stepped off the bus, the world in front of him froze.

“Everyone was looking at me. My

pulse rate in my throat went to the roof.” He 

walked to the administration office. “It was really, really, really quiet.

The principal [Gene Pilot] introduced himself. He asked a few questions.” Then

a teacher escorted him to homeroom. Some students were silent. Some whispered.

“That was my first day. It was a challenge. You would think those days would

get better over time, but in many ways they got worse.”

Clyburn, no longer in Booker’s

cocoon of nurturing teachers and classmates was chosen for a pilot program to

integrate Sarasota County schools in 1963. “I was sitting in homeroom looking

out of the window. A kid with a big German shepherd walked toward the building.

I heard a loud pop. Six men racing toward me said ‘get in the center. Don’t say

anything. Follow us.’ We went to the principal’s office. They locked down the

school to look for the student.” Willemina Thomas, a BHS classmate was also

selected to participate in the SHS pilot program, but their paths never

crossed. Clyburn, a behavioral psychologist was university director of learner

affairs at Capella University.