 The decision to integrate had financial benefits, as the district had been paying a considerable sum to transport black high school students to Fort Smith, and were able to close the old Rosenwald school.Charleston suffered some discrimination from other schools and the state; many schools refused to play football against them and the band was denied the opportunity to play in some band competitions.In 1961, the first two black students to graduate from Charleston were Barbara (Williams) Dotson and Joe Ferguson.