I awoke in my hotel, which happens to be a National historic landmark (although I am unsure why), a short distance from the state capitol building. It was built to resemble the national one, and it does. It's quite striking. Little Rock, a city of 180,000, has a great feel to it. It is very easy to get around there, and it has gorgeous views over the Arkansas River. As a landlocked state, Arkansas depends heavily on its river. In fact, today that river sees trade from over 100 countries. I love when I just pick up random facts like that.
Being that everything opens at 9 am, I had some time to kill. So, I wandered to MacArthur Park. I was curious as to its name, and sure enough, Douglas MacArthur himself had been born in the arsenal there- which still stands- in 1880. The armory/arsenal is now home to a museum in his name. It's on military history. I did learn, however, that the arsenal was the first target of Union forces in February of 1861. The captain at the time immediately dispatched that he would surrender the arsenal to prevent a war. He never had to; the Union forces instead went north and east. Fort Sumter instead led the way. The park also has an amazing Korean War Memorial. The statues in the center represent a medic (for the work they are often not honored for doing), an African American soldier (since the Korean War was the first fought with an integrated army), and Korean children (thousands of whom sought humanitarian aid from the soldiers). Around the statues are monuments with the names of fallen Arkansasans but also facts and statistics on the Korean War - the "forgotten war." It was impressive. There were a few Confederate statues and monuments in the park as well.
I arrived at the Little Rock Central Historic Site as they opened their doors (run by the National Park Service). I snapped a few photos of the high school itself, once coined "the most beautiful high school in the country" for its brick structure and gorgeous architecture. The school magnificently spawns two city blocks. Little Rock had four high schools in 1957. Central High was the white school on that side of the city, and Dunbar was the black school. Dunbar got the hand-me-down books and supplies from Central, although the Dunbar curriculum itself was considered quite good at that time. Central is still used today, but Dunbar is now the middle school. The site has amazing displays that place the Little Rock Nine into the timeline of events unfolding in the Civil Rights movement. There are many, many audio clips and videos to hear and see - from testimony then to interviews decades later, including media coverage of the first day.
By 1957, many leaders of the movement in the South decided it was time to test Brown v. Board. Activists such as Daisy Bates (the street is now named after her) sought out students at Dunbar who would be willing to integrate Central. She looked for students who lived closer to Central but who also had a genuine interest in the school. There were quite a few students at first, but when they found out that they would still not get to participate in extra school activities such as athletics, band, or choir, many stayed at Dunbar. That left what became known as the "Little Rock Nine" - six girls and three boys. Most of these were sophomores or juniors; there was only one senior, Ernest Green.
The night before school opened for the year, Governor Orval Faubus announced he was sending in some National Guard troops because if black kids tried to go to that school tomorrow, "blood would run in the streets." Indeed, the National Guard troops refused to allow the nine into the building. Appeals were made to the federal government. Eisenhower was unsure of how he should handle the situation. He discussed at length with Faubus that he needed to allow the students in, but Faubus continually argued that segregation was up to the states, not the national government. Eisenhower left Faubus with a threat and an order. On September 24th, police escorted the nine into school. There were riots, so they were forced to leave. It was not until September 26th, that the students were allowed in and stayed the entire school day.
Eisenhower had federalized the Arkansas National Guard with Executive Order 10730. This was about 10,000 troops. He ordered them to Little Rock. He also ordered the 101st Airborne (about 1200 soldiers) there as well. Eisenhower addressed the nation by saying, "Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of our courts." So, yes, it took over 11,000 soldiers to protect nine teenagers seeking a better education. And a large number of those soldiers (over 1000) had to stay the entire school year! Faubus and others such as Strom Thurmond continued to fight what they believed to be the feds overstepping their role. Some segregationists even hired lawyers to argue that desegregation was a communist plot to destroy traditional values.
The Nine met at Daisy Bates' house each morning. They piled into a station wagon that was escorted by two army jeeps. One student reported it was the first time a white person had ever held a door open for her. As they walked into the school, the white students chanted, "2, 4, 6, 8, we don't want to integrate." The Nine came up with their own (not aloud of course): "4, 6, 8, 10, the Guards will take us in." For weeks leading up to this day and for months afterwards, the families got threatening phone calls, and some lost their jobs. The White Citizens' Council, with Thurmond as a leader, would threaten white families if their kids were nice to any of the Nine. The school day started with an all-school assembly. The speaker was Major General Edwin Walker of the 101st. He told the students that they would not tolerate any trouble. That did not stop the white students from passing out "gift" cards to one another, allowing them one kick to a Negro student. The spitting, harassing, and small physical attacks went on as long as the students could get away with it.
According to the Nine, their teachers were mostly helpful. None of them were threatening, but some had better classroom management than others. Although Mimmijean was expelled that year, the others finished out the entire year, catching up on the lost month. When Ernest Green graduated in May, two platoons were stationed underneath the bleachers. Martin Luther King made the trip to watch him get his diploma, becoming the first black high school graduate of an "integrated" school.
Faubus was not giving up yet. He closed all the public high schools in Little Rock the following year, supposedly for the "safety of all the students." Parents were outraged, but some were very different reasons. Some students simply enrolled in private schools. The Nine, however, could not because they now became plaintiffs in the ensuing lawsuit. Womens' groups headed up a fight to maintain segregation. Another group called STOP began a campaign to get the segregationists off the school board and promote the cause that education was important, even if that meant an integrated one. They had a special election for the school board, virtually a vote to integrate or keep the schools closed. They won, and the schools reopened in the fall of 1959. Those students, however, lost an entire year of education.
Although the Nine started the chain of events in which other students in other schools and states began to integrate, the fight was hardly over. By 1966, only 16% of black students were attending an integrated school. The states began integrating the high schools first and then slowly made their way down. However, thanks to the case Green V. County Board of Regents, by 1970, 79% of black students attended an integrated school. That was the "at once" verdict of the Court. Little Rock itself became completely integrated in 1972. There is a commemorative garden across the street with arches that visually depict an integrated, and continually improving, Central High School.
After spending more time at the site than I had originally planned, I headed to my final destination: the Clinton Museum and Library. This museum is unlike any other. The chosen site for the museum was in a very derelict area of Little Rock that much needed development. Right by the Arkansas River and an old train bridge, the library/museum is designed to resemble the structure of a bridge as in Clinton's 1996 promise to build "a bridge to the 21st century." It is the only green Presidential library thus far, using solar and geothermal energy. The library has brought in over $2 billion of new money to Arkansas; that breaks down to about $11,000 for each state resident! That area of the city is now a booming industrial center, and the city is considered "recession-proof" now. The library/museum are part of a larger entity consisting of a branch of the University of Arkansas, a water preservation park, and conference center. Wow! Who knew being President could have so many perks for other people?!
The building consists of three floors. The ground floor is mostly used for special exhibits- Elvis at this time. There is a restaurant in the basement; it's called "42." The second floor consists of a short bio video, a reproduction of the Cabinet room, and then alcoves highlighting different aspects of the presidency such as education, health care reform, the work of Hillary, the work of Al Gore, economic plans, foreign relations, etc. It even mentioned the scandals around him such as Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky. The artifacts (over 70,000) and pictures were impressive. The third floor is some biographical info on both Bill and Hillary. The other side of the floor consists of artifacts, photos, and videos of different aspects of the life of the president. This included state dinners, visits to other countries, personal mementos and gifts, letters written to and from Clinton, etc. One of the greatest videos was a compilation of the spoofs that he and Hillary made. Apparently, they made several. Obama has kept up this tradition. Mostly, the videos are shown at the Correspondence dinner. Bill Clinton was really quite funny, and he easily made fun of himself. He not only oozes the swarmy charm of a politician, but he has an intelligently quick wit that endears him to others.
He had quite a few firsts as President. His was the first administration to recognize Hanukkah and Ramadan, having annual celebrations at the White House. He had the most racially diverse administration, and he was the first presidential liaison to the gay community. Websites went from 50 in number in 1992 to over 350 million when he left office. The Starr investigation cost taxpayers $70 million, and after Clinton's acquittal, Congress allowed the Independent Counsel statute to expire. He visited 74 countries on 6 continents. He also raised military pay the highest it had been in a generation. Even the store impressed me. There were the usual cheesy souvenirs to get, but the majority of the store sold items that supported various charities. There was an entire quarter of the store that sold fair trade items, a section that sold items for the library's neighbor, Heifer International, and there was the section that benefited the charities pinpointed by the Clinton Foundation such as "Homes for Haiti" and Tom's shoes.
I then drove the 8 1/4 hours home....
My freedom ride has ended, but the march continues...
Being that everything opens at 9 am, I had some time to kill. So, I wandered to MacArthur Park. I was curious as to its name, and sure enough, Douglas MacArthur himself had been born in the arsenal there- which still stands- in 1880. The armory/arsenal is now home to a museum in his name. It's on military history. I did learn, however, that the arsenal was the first target of Union forces in February of 1861. The captain at the time immediately dispatched that he would surrender the arsenal to prevent a war. He never had to; the Union forces instead went north and east. Fort Sumter instead led the way. The park also has an amazing Korean War Memorial. The statues in the center represent a medic (for the work they are often not honored for doing), an African American soldier (since the Korean War was the first fought with an integrated army), and Korean children (thousands of whom sought humanitarian aid from the soldiers). Around the statues are monuments with the names of fallen Arkansasans but also facts and statistics on the Korean War - the "forgotten war." It was impressive. There were a few Confederate statues and monuments in the park as well.
I arrived at the Little Rock Central Historic Site as they opened their doors (run by the National Park Service). I snapped a few photos of the high school itself, once coined "the most beautiful high school in the country" for its brick structure and gorgeous architecture. The school magnificently spawns two city blocks. Little Rock had four high schools in 1957. Central High was the white school on that side of the city, and Dunbar was the black school. Dunbar got the hand-me-down books and supplies from Central, although the Dunbar curriculum itself was considered quite good at that time. Central is still used today, but Dunbar is now the middle school. The site has amazing displays that place the Little Rock Nine into the timeline of events unfolding in the Civil Rights movement. There are many, many audio clips and videos to hear and see - from testimony then to interviews decades later, including media coverage of the first day.
By 1957, many leaders of the movement in the South decided it was time to test Brown v. Board. Activists such as Daisy Bates (the street is now named after her) sought out students at Dunbar who would be willing to integrate Central. She looked for students who lived closer to Central but who also had a genuine interest in the school. There were quite a few students at first, but when they found out that they would still not get to participate in extra school activities such as athletics, band, or choir, many stayed at Dunbar. That left what became known as the "Little Rock Nine" - six girls and three boys. Most of these were sophomores or juniors; there was only one senior, Ernest Green.
The night before school opened for the year, Governor Orval Faubus announced he was sending in some National Guard troops because if black kids tried to go to that school tomorrow, "blood would run in the streets." Indeed, the National Guard troops refused to allow the nine into the building. Appeals were made to the federal government. Eisenhower was unsure of how he should handle the situation. He discussed at length with Faubus that he needed to allow the students in, but Faubus continually argued that segregation was up to the states, not the national government. Eisenhower left Faubus with a threat and an order. On September 24th, police escorted the nine into school. There were riots, so they were forced to leave. It was not until September 26th, that the students were allowed in and stayed the entire school day.
Eisenhower had federalized the Arkansas National Guard with Executive Order 10730. This was about 10,000 troops. He ordered them to Little Rock. He also ordered the 101st Airborne (about 1200 soldiers) there as well. Eisenhower addressed the nation by saying, "Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of our courts." So, yes, it took over 11,000 soldiers to protect nine teenagers seeking a better education. And a large number of those soldiers (over 1000) had to stay the entire school year! Faubus and others such as Strom Thurmond continued to fight what they believed to be the feds overstepping their role. Some segregationists even hired lawyers to argue that desegregation was a communist plot to destroy traditional values.
The Nine met at Daisy Bates' house each morning. They piled into a station wagon that was escorted by two army jeeps. One student reported it was the first time a white person had ever held a door open for her. As they walked into the school, the white students chanted, "2, 4, 6, 8, we don't want to integrate." The Nine came up with their own (not aloud of course): "4, 6, 8, 10, the Guards will take us in." For weeks leading up to this day and for months afterwards, the families got threatening phone calls, and some lost their jobs. The White Citizens' Council, with Thurmond as a leader, would threaten white families if their kids were nice to any of the Nine. The school day started with an all-school assembly. The speaker was Major General Edwin Walker of the 101st. He told the students that they would not tolerate any trouble. That did not stop the white students from passing out "gift" cards to one another, allowing them one kick to a Negro student. The spitting, harassing, and small physical attacks went on as long as the students could get away with it.
According to the Nine, their teachers were mostly helpful. None of them were threatening, but some had better classroom management than others. Although Mimmijean was expelled that year, the others finished out the entire year, catching up on the lost month. When Ernest Green graduated in May, two platoons were stationed underneath the bleachers. Martin Luther King made the trip to watch him get his diploma, becoming the first black high school graduate of an "integrated" school.
Faubus was not giving up yet. He closed all the public high schools in Little Rock the following year, supposedly for the "safety of all the students." Parents were outraged, but some were very different reasons. Some students simply enrolled in private schools. The Nine, however, could not because they now became plaintiffs in the ensuing lawsuit. Womens' groups headed up a fight to maintain segregation. Another group called STOP began a campaign to get the segregationists off the school board and promote the cause that education was important, even if that meant an integrated one. They had a special election for the school board, virtually a vote to integrate or keep the schools closed. They won, and the schools reopened in the fall of 1959. Those students, however, lost an entire year of education.
Although the Nine started the chain of events in which other students in other schools and states began to integrate, the fight was hardly over. By 1966, only 16% of black students were attending an integrated school. The states began integrating the high schools first and then slowly made their way down. However, thanks to the case Green V. County Board of Regents, by 1970, 79% of black students attended an integrated school. That was the "at once" verdict of the Court. Little Rock itself became completely integrated in 1972. There is a commemorative garden across the street with arches that visually depict an integrated, and continually improving, Central High School.
After spending more time at the site than I had originally planned, I headed to my final destination: the Clinton Museum and Library. This museum is unlike any other. The chosen site for the museum was in a very derelict area of Little Rock that much needed development. Right by the Arkansas River and an old train bridge, the library/museum is designed to resemble the structure of a bridge as in Clinton's 1996 promise to build "a bridge to the 21st century." It is the only green Presidential library thus far, using solar and geothermal energy. The library has brought in over $2 billion of new money to Arkansas; that breaks down to about $11,000 for each state resident! That area of the city is now a booming industrial center, and the city is considered "recession-proof" now. The library/museum are part of a larger entity consisting of a branch of the University of Arkansas, a water preservation park, and conference center. Wow! Who knew being President could have so many perks for other people?!
The building consists of three floors. The ground floor is mostly used for special exhibits- Elvis at this time. There is a restaurant in the basement; it's called "42." The second floor consists of a short bio video, a reproduction of the Cabinet room, and then alcoves highlighting different aspects of the presidency such as education, health care reform, the work of Hillary, the work of Al Gore, economic plans, foreign relations, etc. It even mentioned the scandals around him such as Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky. The artifacts (over 70,000) and pictures were impressive. The third floor is some biographical info on both Bill and Hillary. The other side of the floor consists of artifacts, photos, and videos of different aspects of the life of the president. This included state dinners, visits to other countries, personal mementos and gifts, letters written to and from Clinton, etc. One of the greatest videos was a compilation of the spoofs that he and Hillary made. Apparently, they made several. Obama has kept up this tradition. Mostly, the videos are shown at the Correspondence dinner. Bill Clinton was really quite funny, and he easily made fun of himself. He not only oozes the swarmy charm of a politician, but he has an intelligently quick wit that endears him to others.
He had quite a few firsts as President. His was the first administration to recognize Hanukkah and Ramadan, having annual celebrations at the White House. He had the most racially diverse administration, and he was the first presidential liaison to the gay community. Websites went from 50 in number in 1992 to over 350 million when he left office. The Starr investigation cost taxpayers $70 million, and after Clinton's acquittal, Congress allowed the Independent Counsel statute to expire. He visited 74 countries on 6 continents. He also raised military pay the highest it had been in a generation. Even the store impressed me. There were the usual cheesy souvenirs to get, but the majority of the store sold items that supported various charities. There was an entire quarter of the store that sold fair trade items, a section that sold items for the library's neighbor, Heifer International, and there was the section that benefited the charities pinpointed by the Clinton Foundation such as "Homes for Haiti" and Tom's shoes.
I then drove the 8 1/4 hours home....
My freedom ride has ended, but the march continues...
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