Song, im on the battlefield for my lord. So it comes from that, from her singing and also from the experience i had with the 101st airborne, the soldiers who were warriors who came down to guard us when i was going to school at central high. Cspan central high is where . Guest little rock, arkansas, central high. 1957, it was a major bastion of white segregation in the south, because it was ranked among the top high schools in the country. And it was where the elite children of little rock attended school. And it was, one believes, the last place they would have wanted to have black children come. And in order to stay there, get there, be there, president eisenhower indeed, ultimately, had to send soldiers, warriors. Cspan what year are we talking about . Guest 1957. September of 1957. Were really talking about that whole period because, you know, in 1954 brown v. The board of education said separate is not equal and, thus, began this whole event of the south to integrate and not integ
Turn away thy Terrence Roberts was the best student in a group of nine, and perhaps for that reason he was to become one of the main targets of the segregationists. His father was a navy veteran and a dietitian. His mother was a caterist. The large Roberts Family were sevenday adventists and very religious. Terrences father attended meetings all summer discussing integration, but remained ambivalent about his sons attending central until the governors actions made it a matter of principle. When newsmen asked terrence if the naacp had pressured to him attend central, the idealistic 15yearold responded, quote, nobody urged me to go. The school board asked if i wanted to go. I thought if i got in, some of the other children would be able able to go and have more opportunities. On september 25th, 2007, Terry Roberts, the other eight members of the little rock nine, and the world, will return to little rock to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of little rock Central High
With a visit to the school. A u. S. Park ranger will show us around the Historic Site. Welcome to the Little Rock Central High School National Historic site. My name is spirit tricky. Im a park ranger at the site. And my significant tie to the story is the fact that my mother Minnijean Brown is one of the little rock nine. The name coined by the media to describe the first nine black students to desegregate Central High School. The grounds youre standing on became world famous in 1957. Because the first nine black students walked up the steps. On september 25. Our exhibits put the little rock central high crisis in the context of the greater civil rights muchlt movement. They begin with slavery and the institution and the fact that blacks had absolutely to rights. Considered property. And even three fifths a person. Not even a full human being. If you have an institution like that, that flourishes for hundreds of years, even when the laws change. Its still imbedded in peoples minds and
Welcome our distinguished guest for todays commemoration program. Nancy ruso. Michael moor r, superintendent of the Little Rock School district. The director of hutchins senter for African American research at harvard university. The honorable mark, mayor of the city of little rock. Cameron shawly midwest regional director, National Park service. The honorable asa hutchinson, governor of arkansas. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the 42nd president of the United States, William Jefferson clinton. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, please give a special welcome to the little rock nine. Dr. Patila bills. Elizabe elizabeth egbert. Earnest green. Gloria ray, carlata renear. Dr. Terrence roberts. Mini jane brown tricky. Thelma mothershed, wier. And join us in remembering the late Jefferson Thomas. Ladies and gentlemen, the little rock nine. [ applause ] please welcome to the podium our mc for today. An educator and Community Leader and the first African American to attend Little Rock Ce
Century. Nine from little rock is a 1964 u. S. Information agency film. Narrated by jefferson thomas. One of the nine African American students who in 1957 enrolled in little rock arkansas all white central high school. Arkansas governor prevented the students from tanding class. Until president eisenhower sent 1,000 u. S. Army troops and federalized the 10,000 strong Arkansas National guard to restore order and enforce school desegregation. In the film mr. Thomas and several of the little rock nine reflect on their experience. Life beyond high school sp hopes for the future. The film won an Academy Award in 1965. Where do you begin . Where do you look . Like an ancient battlefield the ground is silent. Though people still move in familiar places. Now in this field, negro and white run together. Remembering not how it was in little rock, arkansas in 1957. Perhaps it is best tr those today to look where theyre going and not where they have been. But when youre a dark man in a country wh