Historic Site Remembers Little Rock Nine

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Photo courtesy of Media Services

    History is comprised of unforgettable dates: December 7, 1941; November 22, 1963; September 11, 2001; and September 23, 1957. These are just a few people can recall with clarity. In September 2007, it will have been 50 years since nine African-American students -- Melba Pattillo, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray, Carlotta Walls, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Minnijean Brown and Thelma Mothershed -- made history by braving a hostile crowd to reach the front door of Little Rock Central High School, the site of the first important test of the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision. The violence that ensued forced the police to remove the students for their own safety. On Sept. 25, they returned to Central under the presidential-ordered escort of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and became a part of Civil Rights history.

   The 50th anniversary of this momentous day and the courage of these nine teenagers will be celebrated Sept. 23-25, 2007 with numerous activities and special guests. One of the highpoints will be the Sept. 24 formal dedication of the new Little Rock Central National Historic Site Visitor Center, now under construction. The new facility, which will be six times larger than the current one, will provide space for interpretive and educational programming, special events, storage and preservation of historic archives and museum objects, plus work areas for park staff. The existing center, which is a restored historic Mobil Station, will be converted into an education center.

   “The new visitor center will not only provide for enhanced learning opportunities, it will also function as a gateway to the neighborhood. This historic site is unique in that it includes a still-functioning high school, and is within a living neighborhood,” said Michael Madell, superintendent of the National Historic Site. “We want visitors to walk the sidewalks and to reflect on the events and emotions that filled the school and neighborhood just fifty years ago.”

   The main anniversary celebration will be Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007, on the expansive front lawn of the school, where the Little Rock Nine will be honored. President Bush has been asked to speak and all living former presidents have been invited.

   Numerous events are being planned in 2007 for the months leading up to the “Golden Gala” even though the dates have yet to be determined on some. These include:

   • A commemorative coin issued by the United States Mint to honor the Little Rock Nine and Central, is expected to be unveiled in May 2007. Input was requested from the Little Rock Nine regarding the design. A “first day of issue” ceremony will be held next spring in Little Rock, with specific details to be announced.

   • “From Central to History,” one minute history moments began airing in September of this year on radio station KUAR, and will run up to the anniversary. These will also be available for viewing on www.Arkansas.com.

   • Display of the original Emancipation Proclamation in mid-September 2007 at the Clinton Presidential Center and Park in downtown Little Rock. Special educational opportunities will also be available at the library which will allow students to experience a little of what it was like in 1957 by “role playing” those who were involved that day and the decisions they made.

   • A film festival will be hosted by the Market Street Cinema in Little Rock in February or March 2007. Films to be shown will be announced at a later date.

   • An Arkansas Arts Center special exhibit, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 7–Oct. 14, 2007, will feature the award-winning works of photographers Will Counts and Ernest Withers, both of whom documented the 1957 events for prosperity. Counts was an employee of the Arkansas Democrat and took the famous photograph of Elizabeth Eckford that so aptly illustrated the volatility of the time. The photo was used worldwide and earned Counts a Pulitzer Prize nomination. Withers, a prominent African-American freelance photographer from Memphis, documented the highs and lows of the Civil Rights movement.

   • Little Rock’s 2007 edition of World Fest will be expanded to two days – Sept. 21 and 22– and will be held at MacArthur Park. Information on equal rights and human rights will be added to the event in honor of the anniversary, to go along with the regular schedule of international food, music, games, community booths, demonstrations and animals. There will also be an art contest, fishing derby and Arkansas schools will display information about their assigned country.

   • Judicial forums highlighting the role of Central High in the Civil Rights movement are tentatively scheduled to be held Sept. 19-25 2007, and several museums and other educational institutions are planning exhibits and discussions. The Arkansas Repertory Theatre will premiere ”The Legacy Project,” a commissioned play about the Central High crisis, based on oral history accounts.

   • The Little Rock Nine Foundation will host a fundraising gala to support their scholarship program on the evening of Sept. 24, 2007. Plans are still being finalized.

   For more information on events honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Little Rock Central High desegregation crisis, contact Spirit Trickey or Michael Madell with the National Park Service at (501) 374-1957. The Central High National Historic Site Web site has information on the celebration: www.nps.gov/chsc.
 
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