Peabody Demonstration School’s first African-American graduate passed away September 3, 2025. Cassandra Teague Walker ‘67 returned to her alma mater many times to share her experiences with young students and is featured on the 21st Avenue garage mural.
One of the school’s heroes has passed away, and members were asked to take a minute to think about the courage it took for Cassandra Teague Walker ’67 and her parents, Dr. Helen Teague and Cass Teague, Sr. to choose Peabody Demonstration School in 1964.
Under the leadership of Dr. Knox McCharen, PDS integrated in the 1964-1965 school year, welcoming two Black girls and two Black boys in ninth grade (and 2 Black children in each grade from nursery school through 8th grade. Cassandra was one of four new ninth graders that fall. She was a National Achievement Scholarship Program finalist, graduated in three years — became the first Black graduate — and went on to attend Fisk University. Walker returned often to USN during her legal and real estate career to speak with students, and she graciously helped us celebrate the 50th anniversary of the school’s integration in 2014.
Then in 2018, the Class of 2025 and local artist-in-residence Joseph Love III enshrined Cassandra forever in the 21st Avenue garage mural “Nashville For Us All.” Dressed as an Edgehill polar bear, Walker punts a giant soccer ball bearing the words community, home, equality, diversity, hope, and empathy. Former Director Vince Durnan described her as “a cornerstone of the whole story, an amazing trailblazer and force of nature–and she never, ever backed down. She’s one of the reasons the school was worth saving in 1975.”
