Day 22-Little Rock

 

I think some persons are still not getting equal protection of the laws.

Over 2500 pupils attended this school in September 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas.   All of them were White.  If you were Black would you have the courage to be the among the first Black students to integrate this school?  Nine Black teenagers did!

Elizabeth Eckford and eight other Black students were barred from entering Little Rock Central High School by the National Guard on September 3. 

The original six students and their parents who were the defendants in the Brown v.s  Topeka Board of Education decision.

Like many states, Arkansas was slow to implement school integration.

The Governor of Arkansas brough in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent these nine young men and women from attending the high school of their choice.  

 

 On September 3, Elizabeth Eckford and eight other Black students were barred from entering Little Rock Central High School by the National Guard. 

 

On September 20, a federal judge rules against using the National Guard to block students from entering school.  Local police are given the responsibility of protecting the students.

 

September 23, the nine Black students enter the high school but a riot ensues and the Black students leave the school from a side entrance in a police car.

 

September 24, President Eisenhower orders 1200 troops from the 101^st Airborne to Little Rock.  He is the first President to use Federal troops to enforce civil rights.

 

September 25, the nine Black students enter Little Rock Central High School and continue to attend for the remainder of the year, however, they suffer physical and verbal abuse throughout the year.

September 1958-June 1959 the Governor of Arkansas closes the school for the year claiming a public safety concern.

 

August 1959-a federal judge declares the closing unconstitutional, and the school reopens.

This was the original Visitors' Center.

The exhibits at the Little Rock Central High School National Historical Site were among the most moving civil rights exhibits that we have ever visited.  Interviews with each of the nine students, their parents, the teachers, and some of the White students attending the school made this historic moment come alive.  It felt like these events happened yesterday.   Joni and I were both numb after our visit.

LBJ signing the 1964 Civil Rights Bill.

Emmitt Till and his mother.

Boston 1974-Don't think racial bigotry is just a Southern problem!

Later in the afternoon we visited the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library which is located right on the banks of the Arkansas River in downtown Little Rock.  The library included a film which highlighted President Clinton’s childhood, college, and political career.  Clinton, himself, narrates parts of the film.  The library also includes full size replicas of both the Cabinet Meeting Room and the Oval Office.  For both of these rooms there are guides who provide many details about each room and what unique items were  present during the Clinton Presidency.  The remainder of the library consists of two long corridors which highlight both the domestic and foreign achievements of the Clinton Administration.  These achievements are impressive, yet often overshadowed by the Monica Lewinsky affair.

The Little Rock Nine receiving Gold medals from President Clinton, Cabinet members, and members of the Congress.

Between our visits to the Little Rock Central High School and the Clinton Presidential Library we had lunch in an Indian restaurant about six miles from downtown.  As we followed the directions from our GPS were guided through a neighborhood that was devastated by a tornado on March 31, 2023.  The destruction was shocking; and these weren’t the typical trailers that you so often see on the news.  These were solid brick homes in an affluent middle class area.

When we left the Clinton Library it was 3:15 PM, and it was 91°.  The hottest temperature we’ve encountered so far.  We had a two hour drive to our campsite on the top of Mount Magazine.  At 2700 ft elevation it’s the tallest spot in Arkansas, and fortunately as our van climbed up the mountain, the temperature fell to a much more tolerable 71°.   What a relief.