In the 1960s, as segregation ended, black athletes became highly visible representatives of newly integrated schools. They endured racial slurs and threats from opposing players and fans while facing the challenge of moving from small African American schools to overwhelmingly white institutions. Today, many residents recall that the success of black athletes helped to ease the process of racial integration in the mountains.
Walter "Little Willie" Scruggs was born in Franklin, NC in 1946. Little did anyone know, at the time of his birth, that Scruggs would go on to become one of the most influential people in Franklin, NC before he was even 18 years old.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, America was deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement and Western North Carolina was no stranger to this movement. Walter Scruggs bravely set an example for how Franklin, NC should adapt to the changing times by becoming the first African-American at Franklin High School to play basketball and football. By playing two of the most popular sports in Franklin, Scruggs was able to show that African-Americans were no different from anyone and helped unify a community in one of the tensest periods in American History.
Aside from being the first African-American athlete at Franklin High School, Scruggs was also the first African-American athlete at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia. Tragically, the potential that Scruggs had for being a Civil Rights leader and a wonderful human being was cut short when he was tragically killed in a car accident when the car he was driving collided with another car that was driven by his very own brother on Christmas Eve, 1965. Walter Scruggs was 19 years old.
