Background Information of the Little Rock Nine Event
Background on Little Rock Nine:
"The desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, gained national attention on September 3, 1957, when Governor Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard in an effort to prevent nine African American students from integrating the high school. After several failed attempts to negotiate with Faubus, President Dwight D. Eisenhower took action against the defiant governor by simultaneously federalizing the Arkansas National Guard, removing the Guard from Faubus' control, and ordering one thousand troops from the United States Army 101st Airborne Division in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky to oversee the integration. On September 25, 1957 the students, now known as the Little Rock Nine, entered Central High School, an academically renowned school with an enrollment of approximately two thousand white students. Despite suffering constant torment and discrimination from their classmates, eight of the nine students completed the school year at Central High School" (Civil Rights Digital Library: Little Rock Central High School Integration).
"The Little Rock Nine was a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Theensuing Little Rock Crisis, in
which the students were initially prevented from enteringthe racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then attended after the
intervention of President Eisenhower, is considered to be one of the most important events in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. On their first day of school, troops from the Arkansas National Guard would not let them enter the school and they were followed by mobs making threats to lynch" (Black History Month:LITTLE ROCK NINE).
Civil Rights Act of 1957:
"On September 9, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Originally proposed by Attorney General Herbert Brownell, the Act marked the first occasion since Reconstruction that the federal government undertook significant legislative action to protect civil rights. Although influential southern congressman whittled down the bill's initial scope, it still included a number of important provisions for the protection of voting rights. It established the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department, and empowered federal officials to prosecute individuals that conspired to deny or abridge another citizen?s right to vote. Moreover, it also created a six-member U.S. Civil Rights Commission charged with investigating allegations of voter infringement. But, perhaps most importantly, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 signaled a growing federal commitment to the cause of civil rights" (Civil Rights Digital Library: Civil Rights Act of 1957).
Brown v. Board:
"The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education was a watershed event in the history of the United States. The landmark ruling had it roots in Topeka, Kansas, in 1951 when, Oliver Brown, an African American minister and welder, called upon the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for legal assistance after the city's school board refused to enroll his daughter in an all-white school. The class action lawsuit, filed by Brown and nearly twenty others, ended in the U.S. District Court's ruling in favor of the Board of Education. Undaunted, Thurgood Marshall, chief council for the NAACP, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Brown v. Board of Education, as well as four similar cases challenging the segregation of public schools in Virginia, South Carolina, Delaware and Washington, D.C. Proceedings for the cases began on December 9, 1952. After several delays and a rehearing in December of 1953, the Supreme Court finally reached a unanimous decision on May 17, 1954, when it ruled that the segregation of public school systems was unconstitutional. The decision, however, failed to address any means for enforcement or provide timetables for states to integrate their schools. In 1955, the Supreme Court issued an additional edict, which instructed states to begin the process of desegregation with all deliberate speed" (Civil Rights Digital Library: Brown v. Board of Education).
Prayer Pilgrimage:
"The Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington for Freedom took place on May 17, 1957, when a crowd of over thirty thousand nonviolent demonstrators, from more than thirty states, gathered at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the third anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling. In addition to celebrating the three-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision to end segregation in public education, the Prayer Pilgrimage also dramatized and politicized the failure of most southern states to work toward or implement the court-ordered desegregation of their schools. The pilgrimage was organized by A. Philip Randolph, a noted leader of the Civil Rights movement who gained recognition in 1941 when his plan for a mass gathering in Washington to draw attention to discrimination in the war defense industry, prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to desegregate the nation's munitions factories and establish the Fair Employment Practices Commission. The demonstration's three-hour program featured addresses, prayers, songs and scripture recitations led Mahalia Jackson, Roy Wilkins and Mordecai Johnson, as well as, Martin Luther King Jr.'s first address before a national audience. While organizers of the Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington for Freedom voiced disappointment that the crowd failed to reach its anticipated attendance of fifty thousand people, at the time it occurred, the march earned the distinction of being the largest organized demonstration for Civil Rights, and was instrumental in laying the groundwork for future marches on the nation's capitol" (Civil Rights Digital Library: Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, Washington, D.C.).
Background on Little Rock Nine:
"On the first day of integration at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, angry mobs protested outside the school. Eight of The Little Rock Nine, the African-American students chosen to integrate the all-white Central High, met up beforehand so that they could have a security escort through the mob scene. One student, Elizabeth Eckford, did not receive the message about meeting beforehand. Unaware of the mobs and the meeting, she went to school on her own. She was immediately surrounded by an angry crowd. She tried to enter the school several times but soldiers from the Arkansas National Guard prevented her from crossing their line and entering the building. She was forced to continue through the crowds. This famous photo was taken showing a brave Elizabeth Eckford and an angry Hazel Bryan (now Massery) behind her. A kind white woman from the crowd helped Elizabeth to a bus bench and onto a local bus. The second document in this lesson is a first hand account from Elizabeth Eckford about her experiences that was published in Daisy Bates' book The Long Shadow. This moving excerpt will draw students into the moment captured in the powerful photograph." (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: First Day of Integration at Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas).
"The desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, gained national attention on September 3, 1957, when Governor Orval Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard in an effort to prevent nine African American students from integrating the high school. After several failed attempts to negotiate with Faubus, President Dwight D. Eisenhower took action against the defiant governor by simultaneously federalizing the Arkansas National Guard, removing the Guard from Faubus' control, and ordering one thousand troops from the United States Army 101st Airborne Division in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky to oversee the integration. On September 25, 1957 the students, now known as the Little Rock Nine, entered Central High School, an academically renowned school with an enrollment of approximately two thousand white students. Despite suffering constant torment and discrimination from their classmates, eight of the nine students completed the school year at Central High School" (Civil Rights Digital Library: Little Rock Central High School Integration).
"The Little Rock Nine was a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Theensuing Little Rock Crisis, in
which the students were initially prevented from enteringthe racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then attended after the
intervention of President Eisenhower, is considered to be one of the most important events in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. On their first day of school, troops from the Arkansas National Guard would not let them enter the school and they were followed by mobs making threats to lynch" (Black History Month:LITTLE ROCK NINE).
Civil Rights Act of 1957:
"On September 9, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Originally proposed by Attorney General Herbert Brownell, the Act marked the first occasion since Reconstruction that the federal government undertook significant legislative action to protect civil rights. Although influential southern congressman whittled down the bill's initial scope, it still included a number of important provisions for the protection of voting rights. It established the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department, and empowered federal officials to prosecute individuals that conspired to deny or abridge another citizen?s right to vote. Moreover, it also created a six-member U.S. Civil Rights Commission charged with investigating allegations of voter infringement. But, perhaps most importantly, the Civil Rights Act of 1957 signaled a growing federal commitment to the cause of civil rights" (Civil Rights Digital Library: Civil Rights Act of 1957).
Brown v. Board:
"The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education was a watershed event in the history of the United States. The landmark ruling had it roots in Topeka, Kansas, in 1951 when, Oliver Brown, an African American minister and welder, called upon the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for legal assistance after the city's school board refused to enroll his daughter in an all-white school. The class action lawsuit, filed by Brown and nearly twenty others, ended in the U.S. District Court's ruling in favor of the Board of Education. Undaunted, Thurgood Marshall, chief council for the NAACP, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Brown v. Board of Education, as well as four similar cases challenging the segregation of public schools in Virginia, South Carolina, Delaware and Washington, D.C. Proceedings for the cases began on December 9, 1952. After several delays and a rehearing in December of 1953, the Supreme Court finally reached a unanimous decision on May 17, 1954, when it ruled that the segregation of public school systems was unconstitutional. The decision, however, failed to address any means for enforcement or provide timetables for states to integrate their schools. In 1955, the Supreme Court issued an additional edict, which instructed states to begin the process of desegregation with all deliberate speed" (Civil Rights Digital Library: Brown v. Board of Education).
Prayer Pilgrimage:
"The Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington for Freedom took place on May 17, 1957, when a crowd of over thirty thousand nonviolent demonstrators, from more than thirty states, gathered at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the third anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling. In addition to celebrating the three-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision to end segregation in public education, the Prayer Pilgrimage also dramatized and politicized the failure of most southern states to work toward or implement the court-ordered desegregation of their schools. The pilgrimage was organized by A. Philip Randolph, a noted leader of the Civil Rights movement who gained recognition in 1941 when his plan for a mass gathering in Washington to draw attention to discrimination in the war defense industry, prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to desegregate the nation's munitions factories and establish the Fair Employment Practices Commission. The demonstration's three-hour program featured addresses, prayers, songs and scripture recitations led Mahalia Jackson, Roy Wilkins and Mordecai Johnson, as well as, Martin Luther King Jr.'s first address before a national audience. While organizers of the Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington for Freedom voiced disappointment that the crowd failed to reach its anticipated attendance of fifty thousand people, at the time it occurred, the march earned the distinction of being the largest organized demonstration for Civil Rights, and was instrumental in laying the groundwork for future marches on the nation's capitol" (Civil Rights Digital Library: Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, Washington, D.C.).
Background on Little Rock Nine:
"On the first day of integration at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, angry mobs protested outside the school. Eight of The Little Rock Nine, the African-American students chosen to integrate the all-white Central High, met up beforehand so that they could have a security escort through the mob scene. One student, Elizabeth Eckford, did not receive the message about meeting beforehand. Unaware of the mobs and the meeting, she went to school on her own. She was immediately surrounded by an angry crowd. She tried to enter the school several times but soldiers from the Arkansas National Guard prevented her from crossing their line and entering the building. She was forced to continue through the crowds. This famous photo was taken showing a brave Elizabeth Eckford and an angry Hazel Bryan (now Massery) behind her. A kind white woman from the crowd helped Elizabeth to a bus bench and onto a local bus. The second document in this lesson is a first hand account from Elizabeth Eckford about her experiences that was published in Daisy Bates' book The Long Shadow. This moving excerpt will draw students into the moment captured in the powerful photograph." (The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: First Day of Integration at Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas).
Background information before event:
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483, on May 17, 1954. The decision declared all
laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional, and it called for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation. After the decision the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attempted to register black students in previously all-white schools in cities throughout the South. In Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas, the Little Rock School Board agreed to comply with the high court's ruling. Virgil Blossom, the Superintendent of Schools, submitted a plan of gradual integration to the school board on May 24, 1955, which the board unanimously approved. The plan would be implemented during the fall of the 1957 school year, which would begin in September 1957. By 1957, the NAACP had registered nine black students to attend the previously all-white Little Rock Central High, selected on the criteria of excellent grades and attendance. The nicknamed "Little Rock Nine"
consisted of Ernest Green (b. 1941), Elizabeth Eckford (b. 1941), Jefferson Thomas (1942–2010), Terrence Roberts (b. 1941), Carlotta Walls LaNier (b. 1942), Minnijean Brown (b. 1941), Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942), Thelma Mothershed (b. 1940), and Melba Pattillo Beals (b. 1941). Ernest Green was the first African American to graduate from Central High School.
Little Rock Central High School still functions as part of the Little Rock School District, and is now a National Historic Site that houses a Civil Rights Museum, administered in partnership with the National Park Service, to commemorate the events of1957.In 1957Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén published "Little Rock", a bilingual composition in English and Spanish denouncing the racial segregation in the United States. In some verses, the writer used names referring the LittleRock events as qualifying adjective. Melba Pattillo Beals wrote a memoir titled Warriors Don't Cry, published in the mid-1990s. Two made-for-television movies have dramatized the events of the crisis: the 1981 CBS movie Crisis at Central High, and the 1993 Disney Channel movie The Ernest Green Story.
In 1996, seven of the Little Rock Nine appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. They came face to face with a few of the white students who had tormented them as well as one student who had befriended them.In 2007, the United States Mint made available a commemorative silver dollar to "recognize and pay tribute to the strength, the determination and the courage displayed by African-American high school students in the fall of 1957." The obverse depicts students accompanied by a soldier, with nine stars symbolizing the Little Rock Nine. The reverse depicts an image of Little Rock Central High School, c. 1957. Proceeds from the coin sales are to be used to improve the National Historic Site. On December 9, 2008, the Little Rock Nine were invited to attend the inauguration of
President-elect Barack Obama, the first African-American to be elected President of the United States. (Black History Month: Little Rock Nine)
http://www.masoncreations.com/2012%20Black%20History%20Month/Period%201/Black%20History%20Antone%20Graham/Page%20Three.html
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483, on May 17, 1954. The decision declared all
laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional, and it called for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation. After the decision the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attempted to register black students in previously all-white schools in cities throughout the South. In Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas, the Little Rock School Board agreed to comply with the high court's ruling. Virgil Blossom, the Superintendent of Schools, submitted a plan of gradual integration to the school board on May 24, 1955, which the board unanimously approved. The plan would be implemented during the fall of the 1957 school year, which would begin in September 1957. By 1957, the NAACP had registered nine black students to attend the previously all-white Little Rock Central High, selected on the criteria of excellent grades and attendance. The nicknamed "Little Rock Nine"
consisted of Ernest Green (b. 1941), Elizabeth Eckford (b. 1941), Jefferson Thomas (1942–2010), Terrence Roberts (b. 1941), Carlotta Walls LaNier (b. 1942), Minnijean Brown (b. 1941), Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942), Thelma Mothershed (b. 1940), and Melba Pattillo Beals (b. 1941). Ernest Green was the first African American to graduate from Central High School.
Little Rock Central High School still functions as part of the Little Rock School District, and is now a National Historic Site that houses a Civil Rights Museum, administered in partnership with the National Park Service, to commemorate the events of1957.In 1957Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén published "Little Rock", a bilingual composition in English and Spanish denouncing the racial segregation in the United States. In some verses, the writer used names referring the LittleRock events as qualifying adjective. Melba Pattillo Beals wrote a memoir titled Warriors Don't Cry, published in the mid-1990s. Two made-for-television movies have dramatized the events of the crisis: the 1981 CBS movie Crisis at Central High, and the 1993 Disney Channel movie The Ernest Green Story.
In 1996, seven of the Little Rock Nine appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. They came face to face with a few of the white students who had tormented them as well as one student who had befriended them.In 2007, the United States Mint made available a commemorative silver dollar to "recognize and pay tribute to the strength, the determination and the courage displayed by African-American high school students in the fall of 1957." The obverse depicts students accompanied by a soldier, with nine stars symbolizing the Little Rock Nine. The reverse depicts an image of Little Rock Central High School, c. 1957. Proceeds from the coin sales are to be used to improve the National Historic Site. On December 9, 2008, the Little Rock Nine were invited to attend the inauguration of
President-elect Barack Obama, the first African-American to be elected President of the United States. (Black History Month: Little Rock Nine)
http://www.masoncreations.com/2012%20Black%20History%20Month/Period%201/Black%20History%20Antone%20Graham/Page%20Three.html
Biographies of "The Nine"
Minnijean Brown:
She was born September 11, 1941, in Little Rock and 16 years old when she entered Central High School. Although all of the nine experienced verbal and physical harassment during the 1957-1958 school year at Central, Brown was first suspended, and then expelled for retaliating against daily torment. In February of 1958, she moved to New York and lived with Doctors Kenneth B. and Mamie Clark, African-American psychologists. She graduated from New York's New Lincoln School in 1959. Brown attended Southern Illinois University and majored in journalism. Brown is now a social activist and has worked on behalf of peacemaking, environmental issues, developing youth leadership, diversity education and training, cross-cultural communication, and gender and social justice advocacy. She served in the Clinton Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Workforce Diversity at the Department of the Interior from 1999 to 2001. She has taught social work at Carleton University and in various community colleges in Canada. |
Elizabeth Eckford:
Elizabeth was born on October 4, 1941, and is one of six children. The image of 15-year old Eckford, walking alone through a screaming mob in front of Central High School [shown to the right], propelled the crisis into the nation's living rooms and brought international attention to Little Rock. On September 4, 1957, Elizabeth Eckford arrived at Central High School alone. She got off the bus a block from the school and tried to enter the campus, but was turned away by Arkansas National Guard troops. She then confronted an angry mob of people opposing integration, chanting, "Two, four, six, eight, we ain't gonna integrate." As she made her way down the block, Eckford attempted two more times to enter the school campus, but was blocked by the guardsmen, who were there under orders from the governor to keep them out. Eckford made her way through the mob and sat on a bus bench at the end of the block. She was eventually able to board a city bus, and went to her mother's job at the Arkansas School for the Deaf. Because all of the city's high schools were closed the following year, Eckford did not graduate from Central High School. She joined the U.S. Army, and was able to earn her G.E.D. and returned to Little Rock in the 1960s to be closer to her parents. She attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. |
Eckford is an Army veteran, and has held various jobs throughout her life. She has been a waitress, history teacher, welfare worker, unemployment and employment interviewer, and a military reporter.
|
Ernest Green:
"Ernest was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on September 22, 1941. Green made history as the only senior among the "Little Rock Nine." His place in Arkansas' civil rights history was solidified when he became the first African-American to graduate from the previously all-white high school in May of 1958. An active member of the community from an early age, Green regularly attended church. He was involved in the Boy Scouts and eventually became an Eagle Scout. He was a student at Horace Mann High School before volunteering to integrate all-white Central High School. Green persevered through a year of daily harassment by some of his fellow students to become the first African-American Central High graduate on May 25, 1958. Sitting with Green's family at the event was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who attended the graduation virtually unnoticed. After graduating from high school, Green attended Michigan State University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1962 and a master's degree in 1964 in sociology. Afterwards, he served as the director for the A. Phillip Randolph Education Fund from 1968 to 1977. He then was appointed as the assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs during President Jimmy Carter's administration from 1977 to 1981. Currently, Green is Managing Director at Lehman Brothers in Washington, D.C. and has been with the company since 1987. He has served on numerous boards, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation (Ernest Green:The key Figures Little Rock Nine Desegregation)." |
Thelma Mothershed Wair:
Thelma was born in 1940 in Bloomberg, Texas. Wair attended Dunbar Junior High School and Horace Mann High School before transferring to Central. Despite daily torment from white students at Central, she completed her junior year at the formerly all-white high school during the tumultuous 1957-58 year. Because the city's high schools were closed the following year, Wair earned the necessary credits for graduation through correspondence courses and by attending summer school in St. Louis, Missouri. She received her diploma from Central High School by mail. Thelma was born in 1940 in Bloomberg, Texas. Wair attended Dunbar Junior High School and Horace Mann High School before transferring to Central. Despite daily torment from white students at Central, she completed her junior year at the formerly all-white high school during the tumultuous 1957-58 year. Because the city's high schools were closed the following year, Wair earned the necessary credits for graduation through correspondence courses and by attending summer school in St. Louis, Missouri. She received her diploma from Central High School by mail. Thelma Mothershed Wair graduated from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in 1964 and earned her master's degree in Guidance and Counseling, as well as an Administrative Certificate in Education from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Wair taught home economics in the East St. Louis school system for 28 years before retiring in 1994. |
Wair has also worked at the St. Clair County Jail, Juvenile Detention Center in St. Clair County, Illinois, and was an instructor of survival skills for women at the American Red Cross Shelter for the homeless. During the 1989-1990 school year, she was honored as an Outstanding Role Model by the East St. Louis chapter of the Top Ladies of Distinction and the Early Childhood-Pre-Kindergarten staff of District 189.
|
Melba Pattillo Beals:
Melba was born on December 7, 1941, in Little Rock, Arkansas. She later recounted her experience at Central High School in her book Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle To Desegregate Little Rock's Central High School. Beals grew up surrounded by family members who knew the importance of an education. Her mother, Lois, had been one of the first African-Americans to graduate from the University of Arkansas in 1954. At Central, Beals faced daily harassment from white students and as Beals later recounted, the soldier assigned to protect her instructed, "In order to get through this year, you will have to become a soldier. Never let your enemy know what you are feeling." Beals took the soldier's advice, and finished the school year. Barred from entering Central High School the following year when the city's schools were closed, Beals moved to Santa Rosa, California, for her senior year of high school. Beals graduated from San Francisco State University with a bachelor's degree. She earned a graduate degree in communications from Columbia University, worked as a reporter for NBC, and has served as a communications consultant. Beals is also the only one of the Little Rock Nine to have written a book based on her experiences at Central High School. The book, published in 1995, is a first-hand account of the trials and tribulations that Beals and the nine students encountered from segregationists and racist students. |
Carlotta Walls Lanier:
The oldest of three daughters, was born on December 18, 1942, in Little Rock, Arkansas. LaNier made history as the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine. Inspired by Rosa Parks, she had a desire to get the best education available by enrolling in Central High School. White students called her names and spat on her while armed guards escorted her to classes, but LaNier concentrated on her studies and protected herself throughout the school year. LaNier, along with all other Little Rock high school students, was barred from attending Central the next year when the Little Rock high schools were closed, but she returned to Central High and graduated in 1960. LaNier attended Michigan State University for two years before moving with her family to Denver. In 1968, she earned a Bachelor of Science from Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) and began working at the YWCA as a program administrator for teenagers. In 1977, she founded LaNier and Company, a real estate brokerage firm. Her experience in real estate includes everything from constructing and remodeling properties to marketing and selling them. LaNier is currently the president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a scholarship organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to education for African-Americans. |
Terrence Roberts:
Terrence was born December 3, 1941, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Roberts was a sophomore at Horace Mann High School when he volunteered to integrate Little Rock's Central High School. When the city's high schools were closed to prevent further desegregation, Roberts moved to Los Angeles, California, and graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1959. Following his graduation from high school, Roberts attended California State University and was awarded a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1967. He went on to attend graduate school at the University of California at Los Angeles and received a master's degree in social welfare in 1970. In 1976, Roberts was awarded a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in psychology. Following his graduation from SIU, Roberts moved to the Napa Valley and directed the mental health unit of St. Helena Hospital in Deer Park, California, for ten years. After this, Roberts accepted an invitation to join the UCLA School of Social Welfare as assistant dean. In 1994, he took a position of department chair of the psychology program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. As demands on his time increased, Roberts became program co-chair to concentrate on the activities of his management consulting firm. Currently, he is a faculty member at Antioch and travels widely sought-after speaker and consultant. |
Jefferson Thomas:
Jefferson was born in 1942 in Little Rock, Arkansas. A quiet young man with a sense of humor, Thomas was a track athlete at Horace Mann High School when he chose to volunteer to integrate all-white Central High School for the 1957-58 school year as a sophomore. The Nine were harassed daily by white students, and Thomas' quiet demeanor made him a target for bullies at the school. He graduated from Central high School in 1960 and eventually became an accountant for the United States Department of Defense. Thomas is now retired. |
Gloria Cecilia Ray:
Gloria was born September 26, 1942, in Little Rock. She was the third child of H.C. Ray, Sr. and Julia Miller Ray. Mr. Ray was already a retired federal employee when Gloria entered Central High (he was born 1889, the son of a former slave). In the beginning of the century, it was he who founded the Arkansas Agricultural Extension Service for Negroes under the auspices of the US Dept of Agriculture; he had also studied and work for none other than the distinguished George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington, before graduating from Tuskegee Institute. These facts strongly influenced Ray's choice to attend Central High School. She was 14 years old when she finished Dunbar Junior High School and registered to attend Central for her sophmore year. Ray, like the others of the Nine, was tormented by certain whitestudents who called her names, threw things, spit, vandalized her locker, and even pushed her down a flight of stairs. Still, like the others, she was determined to finish the year. Her mother, a woman with two university degrees, and a Sociologist working for the State of Arkansas, was fired by Faubus when she refused to withdraw Ray from Central High. The following year when all public high schools in Little Rock remained closed, Ray moved to Missouri where her mother had been able to find employment, and attended the newly integrated Kansas City Central High School. After high school graduation, she attended Illinois Institute of Technology (ITT), in Chicago. She graduated in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Mathematics. Immediately after graduation she worked briefly as public school teacher and laboratory research assistant at the University of Chicago Research Medical Center. Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement:The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s challenged racism in America and made the country a more just and humane society for all. Below are a few of its many heroes''(Hero's Of The Civil Rights Movement: infoplease)''. What All Nine Students Accomplished: Ernest Green (b. 1941) In 1958, Ernest became the first black student to graduate from Central High School. During High School, he was an active Boy Scout and became an Eagle Scout, and was also very active in his church. After High School, he graduated from Michigan State University in 1962, and earned his Master's degree in sociology in 1964. Afterwards, he 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. He is married and has three children''(Ms. Rosenthal's Social Studies Site:Meet the Little Rock Nine of Central High School)''. Elizabeth Eckford (b. 1941) Elizabeth went to Central High when she was 15 years old. Because all of the city's high schools were closed the following year, she did not graduate from Central High School. Instead, she joined the U.S. Army, and was able to earn her G.E.D. and returned to Little Rock in the 1960's to be closer to her parents. She attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. Elizabeth is an Army veteran, and has held various jobs throughout her life. She has been a waitress, history teacher, welfare worker, unemployment and employment interviewer, and a military reporter. She is also a mother of two sons''(Ms. Rosenthal's Social Studies Site:Meet the Little Rock Nine of Central High School)''. Jefferson Thomas (b. 1942) Jefferson was born and raised in Little Rock. Before he moved to Central High, he was a star track athlete at Horace Mann High School. 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. He later became an accountant with the U.S. Department of Defense, and now lives in Anaheim, California''(Ms. Rosenthal's Social Studies Site:Meet the Little Rock Nine of Central High School)''. Dr. Terrence Roberts (b. 1941) Terrence was a Sophomore when he entered Central High, and when the city's high schools were closed to prevent further desegregation, Roberts moved to Los Angeles, California with his family. He graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1959. He went to College at California State University, and graduated in 1967 as a sociology major. He went on to attend graduate school at the University of California at Los Angeles and received a master's degree in social welfare in 1970. In 1976, Roberts was awarded a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in psychology. Currently, he is a faculty member at Antioch and travels widely as a sought-after speaker and consultant''(Ms. Rosenthal's Social Studies Site:Meet the Little Rock Nine of Central High School)''. Carlotta Walls Lanier (b. 1942)Carlotta was the oldest of three children, and was the youngest of the Little Rock Nine. She graduated from Central High in 1960, and was only one of the three of nine students of the original Little Rock Nine who actually graduated. After two years at Michigan State University received her B.S. from Colorado State University. In 1977, she founded LaNier and Company, a real estate brokerage firm. She is currently the president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a scholarship organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to education for African-Americans. LaNier and her husband, Ira "Ike" LaNier, have two grown children and live in Colorado. Minnijean Brown Trickey (b. 1941) Minnijean was 16 years old when she entered Central high School. 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 graduated from Lincoln School in New York in 1959. After High School, she attended Southern Illinois University and was a journalism major. Since then, she has been a social activist to help develop youth leadership, facilitate cross-cultural communication and promote free speech and equality. Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942) Gloria was 14 years old when she finished Dunbar Junior High School and registered to attend Central for her sophomore year. The following year when all public high schools in Little Rock remained closed, Ray moved to Missouri where her mother had been able to find employment, and attended the newly integrated Kansas City Central High School. After high school graduation, she attended Illinois Institute of Technology (ITT), in Chicago. She graduated in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Mathematics. Immediately after graduation she worked briefly as public school teacher and laboratory research assistant at the University of Chicago Research Medical Center. In 1966, she married Krister Karlmark, a professor at the Institute of Design in Chicago, and industrial designer. Gloria and Krister Karlmark have two children, Matt and Elin. Thelma Mothershed-Wair (b. 1940) Thelma was born in 1940 in Bloomberg, Texas. She attended Dunbar Junior High School and Horace Mann High School before transferring to Central High School. Because the city's high schools were closed during the 1958-59 year, Themla Wair did not go to classes during her senior year. Therefore, she earned the necessary credits for graduation through correspondence courses and by attending summer school in St. Louis, Missouri, and received her diploma from Central High School by mail. She graduated from Southern Illinois University and went on to get a Masters degree in Counseling. She 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 (b. 1941) Melba grew up in a family that highly valued education. Her mother, Lois, had been one of the first African-Americans to graduate from the University of Arkansas in 1954. When Central High closed, she moved to Santa Rosa, California, for her senior year of high school. She got her B.A. at San Francisco State University, and earned a graduate degree in communications from Columbia University. Melba Beals wrote a book about her experiences at Central High, which was published in 1995.The book was named the ALA Notable Book for 1995 and won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award that same year. |
Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement:The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s challenged racism in America and made the country a more just and humane society for all. Below are a few of its many heroes''(Hero's Of The Civil Rights Movement: infoplease)''.
What All Nine Students Accomplished:
Ernest Green (b. 1941)
In 1958, Ernest became the first black student to graduate from Central High School. During High School, he was an active Boy Scout and became an Eagle Scout, and was also very active in his church. After High School, he graduated from Michigan State University in 1962, and earned his Master's degree in sociology in 1964. Afterwards, he 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. He is married and has three children.
Elizabeth Eckford (b. 1941)
Elizabeth went to Central High when she was 15 years old. Because all of the city's high schools were closed the following year, she did not graduate from Central High School. Instead, she joined the U.S. Army, and was able to earn her G.E.D. and returned to Little Rock in the 1960's to be closer to her parents. She attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. Elizabeth is an Army veteran, and has held various jobs throughout her life. She has been a waitress, history teacher, welfare worker, unemployment and employment interviewer, and a military reporter. She is also a mother of two sons''(Ms. Rosenthal's Social Studies Site:Meet the Little Rock Nine of Central High School)''.
Jefferson Thomas (b. 1942)
Jefferson was born and raised in Little Rock. Before he moved to Central High, he was a star track athlete at Horace Mann High School. 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. He later became an accountant with the U.S. Department of Defense, and now lives in Anaheim, California.
Dr. Terrence Roberts (b. 1941)
Terrence was a Sophomore when he entered Central High, and when the city's high schools were closed to prevent further desegregation, Roberts moved to Los Angeles, California with his family. He graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1959. He went to College at California State University, and graduated in 1967 as a sociology major. He went on to attend graduate school at the University of California at Los Angeles and received a master's degree in social welfare in 1970. In 1976, Roberts was awarded a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in psychology. Currently, he is a faculty member at Antioch and travels widely as a sought-after speaker and consultant.
Carlotta Walls Lanier (b. 1942)
Carlotta was the oldest of three children, and was the youngest of the Little Rock Nine. She graduated from Central High in 1960, and was only one of the three of nine students of the original Little Rock Nine who actually graduated. After two years at Michigan State University received her B.S. from Colorado State University. In 1977, she founded LaNier and Company, a real estate brokerage firm. She is currently the president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a scholarship organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to education for African-Americans. LaNier and her husband, Ira "Ike" LaNier, have two grown children and live in Colorado.
Minnijean Brown Trickey (b. 1941)
Minnijean was 16 years old when she entered Central high School. 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 graduated from Lincoln School in New York in 1959. After High School, she attended Southern Illinois University and was a journalism major. Since then, she has been a social activist to help develop youth leadership, facilitate cross-cultural communication and promote free speech and equality.
Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942)
Gloria was 14 years old when she finished Dunbar Junior High School and registered to attend Central for her sophomore year. The following year when all public high schools in Little Rock remained closed, Ray moved to Missouri where her mother had been able to find employment, and attended the newly integrated Kansas City Central High School. After high school graduation, she attended Illinois Institute of Technology (ITT), in Chicago. She graduated in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Mathematics. Immediately after graduation she worked briefly as public school teacher and laboratory research assistant at the University of Chicago Research Medical Center. In 1966, she married Krister Karlmark, a professor at the Institute of Design in Chicago, and industrial designer. Gloria and Krister Karlmark have two children, Matt and Elin.
Thelma Mothershed-Wair (b. 1940)
Thelma was born in 1940 in Bloomberg, Texas. She attended Dunbar Junior High School and Horace Mann High School before transferring to Central High School. Because the city's high schools were closed during the 1958-59 year, Themla Wair did not go to classes during her senior year. Therefore, she earned the necessary credits for graduation through correspondence courses and by attending summer school in St. Louis, Missouri, and received her diploma from Central High School by mail. She graduated from Southern Illinois University and went on to get a Masters degree in Counseling. She 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 (b. 1941)
Melba grew up in a family that highly valued education. Her mother, Lois, had been one of the first African-Americans to graduate from the University of Arkansas in 1954. When Central High closed, she moved to Santa Rosa, California, for her senior year of high school. She got her B.A. at San Francisco State University, and earned a graduate degree in communications from Columbia University. Melba Beals wrote a book about her experiences at Central High, which was published in 1995.The book was named the ALA Notable Book for 1995 and won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award that same year.
What All Nine Students Accomplished:
Ernest Green (b. 1941)
In 1958, Ernest became the first black student to graduate from Central High School. During High School, he was an active Boy Scout and became an Eagle Scout, and was also very active in his church. After High School, he graduated from Michigan State University in 1962, and earned his Master's degree in sociology in 1964. Afterwards, he 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. He is married and has three children.
Elizabeth Eckford (b. 1941)
Elizabeth went to Central High when she was 15 years old. Because all of the city's high schools were closed the following year, she did not graduate from Central High School. Instead, she joined the U.S. Army, and was able to earn her G.E.D. and returned to Little Rock in the 1960's to be closer to her parents. She attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. Elizabeth is an Army veteran, and has held various jobs throughout her life. She has been a waitress, history teacher, welfare worker, unemployment and employment interviewer, and a military reporter. She is also a mother of two sons''(Ms. Rosenthal's Social Studies Site:Meet the Little Rock Nine of Central High School)''.
Jefferson Thomas (b. 1942)
Jefferson was born and raised in Little Rock. Before he moved to Central High, he was a star track athlete at Horace Mann High School. 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. He later became an accountant with the U.S. Department of Defense, and now lives in Anaheim, California.
Dr. Terrence Roberts (b. 1941)
Terrence was a Sophomore when he entered Central High, and when the city's high schools were closed to prevent further desegregation, Roberts moved to Los Angeles, California with his family. He graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1959. He went to College at California State University, and graduated in 1967 as a sociology major. He went on to attend graduate school at the University of California at Los Angeles and received a master's degree in social welfare in 1970. In 1976, Roberts was awarded a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in psychology. Currently, he is a faculty member at Antioch and travels widely as a sought-after speaker and consultant.
Carlotta Walls Lanier (b. 1942)
Carlotta was the oldest of three children, and was the youngest of the Little Rock Nine. She graduated from Central High in 1960, and was only one of the three of nine students of the original Little Rock Nine who actually graduated. After two years at Michigan State University received her B.S. from Colorado State University. In 1977, she founded LaNier and Company, a real estate brokerage firm. She is currently the president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a scholarship organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to education for African-Americans. LaNier and her husband, Ira "Ike" LaNier, have two grown children and live in Colorado.
Minnijean Brown Trickey (b. 1941)
Minnijean was 16 years old when she entered Central high School. 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 graduated from Lincoln School in New York in 1959. After High School, she attended Southern Illinois University and was a journalism major. Since then, she has been a social activist to help develop youth leadership, facilitate cross-cultural communication and promote free speech and equality.
Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942)
Gloria was 14 years old when she finished Dunbar Junior High School and registered to attend Central for her sophomore year. The following year when all public high schools in Little Rock remained closed, Ray moved to Missouri where her mother had been able to find employment, and attended the newly integrated Kansas City Central High School. After high school graduation, she attended Illinois Institute of Technology (ITT), in Chicago. She graduated in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Mathematics. Immediately after graduation she worked briefly as public school teacher and laboratory research assistant at the University of Chicago Research Medical Center. In 1966, she married Krister Karlmark, a professor at the Institute of Design in Chicago, and industrial designer. Gloria and Krister Karlmark have two children, Matt and Elin.
Thelma Mothershed-Wair (b. 1940)
Thelma was born in 1940 in Bloomberg, Texas. She attended Dunbar Junior High School and Horace Mann High School before transferring to Central High School. Because the city's high schools were closed during the 1958-59 year, Themla Wair did not go to classes during her senior year. Therefore, she earned the necessary credits for graduation through correspondence courses and by attending summer school in St. Louis, Missouri, and received her diploma from Central High School by mail. She graduated from Southern Illinois University and went on to get a Masters degree in Counseling. She 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 (b. 1941)
Melba grew up in a family that highly valued education. Her mother, Lois, had been one of the first African-Americans to graduate from the University of Arkansas in 1954. When Central High closed, she moved to Santa Rosa, California, for her senior year of high school. She got her B.A. at San Francisco State University, and earned a graduate degree in communications from Columbia University. Melba Beals wrote a book about her experiences at Central High, which was published in 1995.The book was named the ALA Notable Book for 1995 and won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award that same year.