September 23, 1957 was no ordinary school day for Elizabeth Eckford and eight
other African American teenagers in Little Rock, Arkansas. Little Rock
Central
High School, like many schools across the country, was segregated.
Only white
students were allowed to attend. But the Supreme Court had
ruled that
segregation, or the legal separation of blacks and whites in public facilities,
was illegal. And these nine students, who would be known
as The Little Rock
Nine, would be the first African Americans to attend Little Rock's Central High.
As they drove toward the school that
morning, the students knew what awaited
them--an angry group of white
protesters. Just a few weeks before, the nine had
walked past just such a
crowd to the high school's entrance. That morning,
Arkansas National
Guardsmen had turned the nine away, and, along with police,
stood by while
the mob pelted the black students cars with stones, assaulted
them, and
threatened their lives. But even though they were scared, the nine
hadn't
given up. Like many of the figures in what came to be known as the Civil
Rights movement, they would keep trying.
The right to an equal
education had been granted to African American students
in 1954 by the
United States Supreme Court, when it ruled that segregation was
illegal.
Unfortunately, three years later, many African Americans were still
being
forced to go to separate and inferior schools. African Americans also
still
suffered under "Jim Crow" laws that forced them to use separate public
facilities from whites. Especially in the South, city buses, restaurants,
hotels, public bathrooms and even public water fountains were segregated.
In spite of the repression, courageous African Americans, as well as some
equally gallant whites, challenged segregation. These freedom fighters met
resistance from segregationists at every turn. The segregationists fought
back
not only in the court room, but on the streets, hurting and even
killing African
Americans and other supporters who spoke up for equality.
Progress was slow and accompanied by danger, but African Americans
continued
to fight for their rights. Working together under the guidance
of leaders like
Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Ralph Abernathy, they
challenged the laws
that discriminated against them as well as the
attitudes of many Americans. One
by one segregation laws were overturned
and slowly many white Americans began to
change how they felt about African
Americans.
Other groups, notably Latinos and Native Americans also
became increasingly
active in their drive for full participation in
American society. In 1962,
Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers
Union, which campaigned
nonviolently for better working condition for
Hispanic, Filipino, and other farm
laborers. Native American leaders such
as Dennis Banks and Clyde Bellecourt,
formed the American Indian Movement
in 1968 to address police brutality, slum
housing, unemployment, racism,
and other issues. These movements found broad
support inside their
communities as well as among the larger society.
Much of the focus of
the Civil Right Movement was on education. Education,
many believed,
would help African Americans to get better jobs and to gain
influence in
American society. But overcoming school segregation, especially in
the
South, meant facing extreme opposition and risking extreme violence. Little
Rock's Central High became an important test.
When the Little Rock Nine
arrived at school that September morning, they
entered the building through
a side door. A white student led them to the
principal's office, where they
were to register for classes. But when the
protesters outside realized the
students had entered the school, they exploded
into violence. Once again,
the Little Rock Nine were forced to leave the school.
But again, they would
not give up. The next day, the Little Rock Nine returned
to Central High,
this time protected by United States Army troops sent by
President Dwight
D. Eisenhower.
For the Little Rock Nine, the battle was only
beginning. Throughout the
school year, they faced physical and verbal
assaults from white students, as
well as death threats against themselves,
their families, and other members of
the black community. And one of the
nine, Minnijean Brown, was expelled from
Central after fighting back
against white students who abused her. But the
following May, Ernest Green
became the first African American student ever to
graduate from Central
High. The courageous actions of the Little Rock Nine had
helped open the
door of education for African Americans all across the
nation.
The Little Rock Nine
They didn't start out being known as the Little Rock Nine but now they are in
America's history books together. Here is a brief glimpse at these former
students and what they are doing today, 40 years after this momentus year.
These nine students are unanimous in proclaiming the true heroes of the
crisis at Central High School were their parents, who supported them and kept
the faith that the process was right and that what they endured would give them
opportunities they deserved.
Ernest Green
In 1958, he became the first black student to graduate from Central High
School. He graduated from Michigan State University and served as Assistant
Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs under President Jimmy Carter. He
currently is a managing partner and vice president of Lehman Brothers in
Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Eckford
The only one of the nine still living in Little Rock, Elizabeth made a career
of the U.S. Army that included work as a journalist. In 1974, she returned to
the home in which she grew up and is now a part-time social worker and mother
of two sons.
Jefferson Thomas
He graduated from Central in 1960, following a year in which Little Rock's
public high schools were ordered closed by the legislature to prevent
desegregation. Today, he is an accountant with the U.S. Department of Defense
and lives in Anaheim, Calif.
Dr. Terrence Roberts
Following the historic year at Central, his family moved to Los Angeles where
he completed high school. He earned a doctorate degree and teaches at the
University of California at Los Angeles and Antioc College. He also is a
clinical psychologist.
Carlotta Walls Lanier
One of only three of the nine who eventually graduated from Central, she and
Jefferson Thomas returned for their senior year in 1959. She graduated from
Michigan State University and presently lives in Englewood, Colorado, where she
is in real estate.
Minnijean Brown Trickey
She was expelled from Central High in February, 1958, after several
incidents, including her dumping a bowl of chili on one of her antagonists in
the school cafeteria. She moved with her husband to Canada during the Vietnam
War protests of the 1960s and today is a writer and social worker in Ontario.
Winterstar Productions is presently filming a documentary on her life.
Gloria Ray Karlmark
She graduated from Illinois Technical College and received a post-graduate
degree in Stockholm, Sweden. She was a prolific computer science writer and at
one time successfully published magazines in 39 countries. Now retired, she
divides her time between homes in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Stockholm,
where her husband's family lives.
Thelma Mothershed-Wair
She graduated from college, then made a career of teaching. She lives in
Belleville, Illinois, where she is a volunteer in a program for abused
women.
Melba Pattillo Beals
She is an author and former journalist for People magazine and NBC and lives
in San Francisco.
other African American teenagers in Little Rock, Arkansas. Little Rock
Central
High School, like many schools across the country, was segregated.
Only white
students were allowed to attend. But the Supreme Court had
ruled that
segregation, or the legal separation of blacks and whites in public facilities,
was illegal. And these nine students, who would be known
as The Little Rock
Nine, would be the first African Americans to attend Little Rock's Central High.
As they drove toward the school that
morning, the students knew what awaited
them--an angry group of white
protesters. Just a few weeks before, the nine had
walked past just such a
crowd to the high school's entrance. That morning,
Arkansas National
Guardsmen had turned the nine away, and, along with police,
stood by while
the mob pelted the black students cars with stones, assaulted
them, and
threatened their lives. But even though they were scared, the nine
hadn't
given up. Like many of the figures in what came to be known as the Civil
Rights movement, they would keep trying.
The right to an equal
education had been granted to African American students
in 1954 by the
United States Supreme Court, when it ruled that segregation was
illegal.
Unfortunately, three years later, many African Americans were still
being
forced to go to separate and inferior schools. African Americans also
still
suffered under "Jim Crow" laws that forced them to use separate public
facilities from whites. Especially in the South, city buses, restaurants,
hotels, public bathrooms and even public water fountains were segregated.
In spite of the repression, courageous African Americans, as well as some
equally gallant whites, challenged segregation. These freedom fighters met
resistance from segregationists at every turn. The segregationists fought
back
not only in the court room, but on the streets, hurting and even
killing African
Americans and other supporters who spoke up for equality.
Progress was slow and accompanied by danger, but African Americans
continued
to fight for their rights. Working together under the guidance
of leaders like
Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Ralph Abernathy, they
challenged the laws
that discriminated against them as well as the
attitudes of many Americans. One
by one segregation laws were overturned
and slowly many white Americans began to
change how they felt about African
Americans.
Other groups, notably Latinos and Native Americans also
became increasingly
active in their drive for full participation in
American society. In 1962,
Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers
Union, which campaigned
nonviolently for better working condition for
Hispanic, Filipino, and other farm
laborers. Native American leaders such
as Dennis Banks and Clyde Bellecourt,
formed the American Indian Movement
in 1968 to address police brutality, slum
housing, unemployment, racism,
and other issues. These movements found broad
support inside their
communities as well as among the larger society.
Much of the focus of
the Civil Right Movement was on education. Education,
many believed,
would help African Americans to get better jobs and to gain
influence in
American society. But overcoming school segregation, especially in
the
South, meant facing extreme opposition and risking extreme violence. Little
Rock's Central High became an important test.
When the Little Rock Nine
arrived at school that September morning, they
entered the building through
a side door. A white student led them to the
principal's office, where they
were to register for classes. But when the
protesters outside realized the
students had entered the school, they exploded
into violence. Once again,
the Little Rock Nine were forced to leave the school.
But again, they would
not give up. The next day, the Little Rock Nine returned
to Central High,
this time protected by United States Army troops sent by
President Dwight
D. Eisenhower.
For the Little Rock Nine, the battle was only
beginning. Throughout the
school year, they faced physical and verbal
assaults from white students, as
well as death threats against themselves,
their families, and other members of
the black community. And one of the
nine, Minnijean Brown, was expelled from
Central after fighting back
against white students who abused her. But the
following May, Ernest Green
became the first African American student ever to
graduate from Central
High. The courageous actions of the Little Rock Nine had
helped open the
door of education for African Americans all across the
nation.
The Little Rock Nine
They didn't start out being known as the Little Rock Nine but now they are in
America's history books together. Here is a brief glimpse at these former
students and what they are doing today, 40 years after this momentus year.
These nine students are unanimous in proclaiming the true heroes of the
crisis at Central High School were their parents, who supported them and kept
the faith that the process was right and that what they endured would give them
opportunities they deserved.
Ernest Green
In 1958, he became the first black student to graduate from Central High
School. He graduated from Michigan State University and served as Assistant
Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs under President Jimmy Carter. He
currently is a managing partner and vice president of Lehman Brothers in
Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Eckford
The only one of the nine still living in Little Rock, Elizabeth made a career
of the U.S. Army that included work as a journalist. In 1974, she returned to
the home in which she grew up and is now a part-time social worker and mother
of two sons.
Jefferson Thomas
He graduated from Central in 1960, following a year in which Little Rock's
public high schools were ordered closed by the legislature to prevent
desegregation. Today, he is an accountant with the U.S. Department of Defense
and lives in Anaheim, Calif.
Dr. Terrence Roberts
Following the historic year at Central, his family moved to Los Angeles where
he completed high school. He earned a doctorate degree and teaches at the
University of California at Los Angeles and Antioc College. He also is a
clinical psychologist.
Carlotta Walls Lanier
One of only three of the nine who eventually graduated from Central, she and
Jefferson Thomas returned for their senior year in 1959. She graduated from
Michigan State University and presently lives in Englewood, Colorado, where she
is in real estate.
Minnijean Brown Trickey
She was expelled from Central High in February, 1958, after several
incidents, including her dumping a bowl of chili on one of her antagonists in
the school cafeteria. She moved with her husband to Canada during the Vietnam
War protests of the 1960s and today is a writer and social worker in Ontario.
Winterstar Productions is presently filming a documentary on her life.
Gloria Ray Karlmark
She graduated from Illinois Technical College and received a post-graduate
degree in Stockholm, Sweden. She was a prolific computer science writer and at
one time successfully published magazines in 39 countries. Now retired, she
divides her time between homes in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Stockholm,
where her husband's family lives.
Thelma Mothershed-Wair
She graduated from college, then made a career of teaching. She lives in
Belleville, Illinois, where she is a volunteer in a program for abused
women.
Melba Pattillo Beals
She is an author and former journalist for People magazine and NBC and lives
in San Francisco.