Father Ryan vs. Pearl: "The Game that Changed the South" Celebratory Luncheon
sponsored by:


 

January 5, 2015
11:30am - 1:00pm
Wildhorse Saloon
120 2nd Ave N, Nashville, TN 37201

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER OR RSVP FOR THE LUNCHEON.

Come celebrate with Father Ryan and Pearl High School as they look back on 50 years of sports equality and the Game that Changed the South: the 1965 game between the two schools that was the first athletic event in the South between an integrated team and an all African-American team.   Players from both of the 1965 teams will be recognized, and Perry Wallace, Jesse Porter and Andrew Maraniss will headline the panel.

Panelists for the luncheon include:
Perry Wallace, Pearl Class of 1966 and center on the 1965 team
Andrew Maraniss, author of “Strong Inside: The Story of Perry Wallace.”
Jesse Porter, Father Ryan Class of 1964 and, with Willie Brown, the first African-American to integrate sports in the South.
Lyn Dempsey, Father Ryan Class of 1965, who made the winning shot.

The Game—50 Years Ago:
On January 4, 1965, Willie Brown—the man who integrated athletics in the South in the fall of 1963, led his Father Ryan team to a victory in the historic game against Pearl High’s outstanding team, led by Perry Wallace and Ted ‘Hound’ McClain, in front of 8,300 at Municipal Auditorium, the first game in the South between an African-American school and an integrated school.  Father Ryan won 52-51 on a shot by Lyn Dempsey at the buzzer.

It was a match-up of two basketball teams, two schools, two communities...and it produced an outcome that is still fresh in many people’s minds.

For more information on the history of this historic event, visit Father Ryan's High School's website by CLICKING HERE.