By Plymouth Voices
J.J. Clemmons was a pioneering African American educator who founded J.J. Clemmons High School in Roper, North Carolina, in 1917. At a time when public education in the South was segregated, this school became one of the first high schools in Washington County specifically for Black students.
For information, check out the Sept. 9, 2026, edition of the Roanoke Beacon.