- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Civil Rights Heritage Trail Induction Ceremony to Honor Elaine 12

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 19:17:53 +0000

The 12 exonerated defendants from the 1919 Elaine Massacre will become a permanent part of the Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail on Nov. 5. Markers commemorating each of them will be unveiled at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s annual Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail Induction Ceremony at 10 a.m. Nov. 5 at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Downtown, 333 President Clinton Ave.�� Speakers at the ceremony will include ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Chancellor Christina Drale; U.S. Congressman French Hill; Lenora Marshall, a member of the Elaine Quorum Court, Kwami Abdul-Bey, co-convenor of the Arkansas Peace and Justice Memorial Movement; and Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott. Dr. Brian Mitchell, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock assistant history professor, and his students will read the names and birth and death places of the Elaine 12 defendants. Dr. Mitchell and his students have done extensive research on the Elaine Massacre. This year’s event will honor the Elaine 12, a group of black sharecroppers in Phillips County who were wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death by all-white juries in the wave of quick, unjust criminal prosecutions of black people that followed the Elaine Massacre of 1919. This is the 100th commemorative year of the Elaine Massacre. The Elaine 12 include Alfred Banks, Ed Coleman, Joe Fox, Albert Giles, Paul Hall, Ed Hicks, Frank Hicks, Joe Knox, John Martin, Frank Moore, Ed Ware, and William Wordlaw. Two of the men are known to be buried in Arkansas. Frank Moore, a World War I veteran, is buried in the National Cemetery in Little Rock, while Joe Knox also is buried in Arkansas at the Haven of Rest Cemetery in Little Rock.�� The convictions of six of the Elaine 12 were overturned in the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Moore vs. Dempsey, in 1923. Following their release from prison, most members of the Elaine 12 fled the state and changed their names. Many of them lived the rest of their lives in exile, fearing for their safety, with their family members never knowing what happened to them. The Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail was created by the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity in 2011 to acknowledge the sacrifices and achievements made by those who fought for racial and ethnic justice in Arkansas. Last year, the Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail was named a part of the. The trail begins in front of the Old State House Convention Center on Markham Street and will eventually extend to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park. Each honoree’s name is commemorated with a 12-inch bronze marker on the trail and a biography on the trail’s website.�� This year’s markers will be installed on the north sidewalk of President Clinton Avenue between Cumberland Street and Rock Street.�� Since the trail’s inception in 2011, East-Harding Construction has partnered with the university to install each year’s markers along the trail.�� East-Harding has provided the labor and supplies for the installation, representing a key role in the trail’s development and expansion.�� New markers are added to the trail each year in a public ceremony that also recognizes civil rights activities of the past and those who work for racial equality today. The ceremonies have honored sit-ins and freedom rides, the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, the desegregation of downtown Little Rock, the efforts of professionals in the areas of medicine and healthcare, politics and law, and economic advancement, as well as Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller.

Tell-Hall receives Little Rock Nine Endowed Scholarship

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 18:26:47 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student with a passion for history has received a $5,000 scholarship from the Department of History for her inspirational civil rights research.�� Nancy Tell-Hall, a graduate student in public history, received the department’s Little Rock Nine Endowed Scholarship, which is awarded to a graduate student focused on race relations and community development.�� “It took me a very long time to return to school, so I greatly appreciate this scholarship,” Tell-Hall said. “I am humbled by it. I have worked very hard. However, I enjoy studying history so I don’t consider it work.” Tell-Hall dropped out of college as a single parent in 1979. She left college to concentrate on raising her son, who graduated from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2017. After three additional children, and earning her associate degree in 2014, Tell-Hall joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and achieved her ultimate goal of earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 2017. “Nancy is a departmental stalwart, and she exemplifies the great students of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock History,” said Dr. Jess Porter, chair of the Department of History. “Nancy has made herself a part of the departmental fabric from her participation and leadership in our honor society, Phi Alpha Theta, to her service learning research in association with Dr. Brian Mitchell.” Tell-Hall recalls something a professor told her that inspired her to pursue a master’s degree in public history. His words opened opportunities for her to investigate the histories of marginalized people. “When I came back to school, I decided to do something I always wanted to do, which was to study history,” Tell-Hall said. “In class, Dr. Carl Moneyhon said that history had been written by certain people and that certain people’s narratives weren’t a part of America’s public record. It just made sense to me. My mother’s family had a rich oral history. I knew my great-grandmother was 15 when the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted. We knew nothing of my father’s history. I found out from my mother he possibly had Native American blood. It took me six years of research to confirm it, and in 2012, I became a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.” While at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Tell-Hall has worked as a graduate assistant with the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity, interned with the City of Little Rock Planning and Development Department and the Sequoyah National Research Center, and volunteered with the National Register of Historic Places. Porter said that her list of accolades and hard work made her a perfect choice for the scholarship. “Her smiling face is always a welcome sight in the halls of the department. The Little Rock Nine Endowed Scholarship is a fitting honor for Nancy to receive,” Porter said. “Her research and career goals align with the mission of the scholarship to improve race relations and enhance community development. We look forward to watching Ms. Tell-Hall positively impact the Little Rock community.” Tell-Hall plans to graduate in December. She is spending the semester completing her thesis, “PROJECT ARK-4: Urban Renewal, Forced Relocation, and Possible Reparations: The Demise of West Rock, Arkansas, 1884–1960.” West Rock, located in what is presently known as the Riverdale area, eventually became a vibrant all African-American community that provided affordable housing and accessibility to many domestic, service, and labor jobs located in the nearby Pulaski Heights neighborhood. “The Little Rock Housing Authority and city leaders had all of them removed by 1960,” Tell-Hall said. “The plan to remove West Rock�� started in 1926 because the city needed to open the westward corridor, and they knew the property would be very valuable one day.” In the new year, Tell-Hall and her husband, Jeffrey, of 37 years plan to move to Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the capital of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. There, she plans to put her history research skills to work at the historic Creek Council House Museum which was the capital of the Nation from 1878 through 1907.�� “I’m living the dream at 58,” Tell-Hall said. “My husband and I have 14 grandchildren, and the thought of building a home with lots of land where they can all run around is exciting. My plan is to travel around the country and to get some of our artifacts back for the Muscogee Nation.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host community conversation on adverse childhood experiences faced by African-American girls

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 14:47:15 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host a community conversation that will shine light on adverse experiences African-American girls face in childhood on Thursday, Aug. 8.�� The event, sponsored by the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity and the Arkansas Minority Health Commission, will take place from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Donaghey Student Center Ledbetter Hall A and B. The all-female panel is headed by Tara Shephard, an author, education and mental health advocate, suicide-prevention trainer, and youth program consultant with nearly two decades of professional experience in juvenile justice, education, substance abuse, and social justice. The additional five panelists include Tjuana Byrd, a juvenile judge candidate; Sharhonda Love, director of the Arkansas Minority Health Commission; Dr. Johanna Thomas, assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Dr. Sara Jones, assistant professor in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Nursing; and Keesa Smith, deputy director of the Arkansas Department of Human Services. The event is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending can register at.��

��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors featured in podcasts recalling city’s conflicted past

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 13:03:46 +0000

As the director of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity and Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History, Dr. John Kirk often serves as an expert source for journalists, students, and researchers looking to learn more about Arkansas’s history in race relations and civil rights.�� A year ago, he was asked to participate in an unusual project. Laura Dunnagan, a Little Rock native, had moved out of state to study poverty and development studies at Davidson College in North Carolina. Feeling conflicted about whether she wanted to return to her hometown after graduation, Dunnagan used her senior project to complete a series of podcasts that explored the city’s post-World War II history with crime, poverty, race relations, and urban development.�� “Laura is an interesting case,” Kirk said. “She’s a local lady from Arkansas who is trying to understand the city that she grew up in better. She is investigating the different dynamics that have shaped the city. It’s interesting that someone like Laura, who is from the city, is now studying Little Rock from an outside perspective. She is interested in understanding how the city’s historical roots are still important in addressing the issues we are facing today.” Last summer, Dunnagan returned to Little Rock and interviewed more than 30 people to discover how Little Rock’s history in segregation, city planning, municipal budgeting, and the role of perception transformed the city over the last six decades. She interviewed historians, politicians, city and community leaders, journalists, police officers, educators, and nonprofit workers. “When I think about the city, I usually think of my favorite parts…,” Dunnagan said in her first podcast. “I also think about the parts of the city that are hard to reckon with: the limited economic mobility that plagues the South; the differences in how people are treated based on race, class, and where they live in the city; our history of segregation and the ways the city perpetuates it. I hesitate to go home and return to a city where these inequities are so clear and are hardly acknowledged in a meaningful way.” Participants interviewed in the podcast include Assistant Chief Hayward Finks of the Little Rock Police Department; former Arkansas state legislator and 2018 mayoral candidate Warwick Sabin; Little Rock City Board of Directors members Gene Fortson, Ken Richardson, and Doris Wright; Austin Kellerman, KARK news director and founder of Victory over Violence; Mike Poore, superintendent of the Little Rock School District; Glenn Hersey, outreach pastor at Saint Mark Baptist Church; and Leifel Jackson, founder of Reaching Our Neighborhoods and Children. “I knew conversations about crime would be at the forefront of what was happening in Little Rock during the mayoral election,” Dunnagan said. “If I could use crime as a way to understand Little Rock, I knew it would make an interesting story in a way that people in Little Rock will find topical.” At ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, she interviewed Kirk as well as Dr. David Montague, professor of criminal justice, and Barrett Allen, director of the University District Development Partnership. “I spoke mainly about my research and how Little Rock has changed since World War II and its impact on race and race relations in the city,” Kirk said. “That research is being used by different users in lots of different ways, from college projects to major news organizations like.” At the end of her project, Dunnagan also felt encouraged by people trying to make positive changes in Little Rock and urged residents to get involved in their community. “I would encourage people to stay aware of the news and watch the City Council meetings because knowing what is happening in the city is crucial to doing any activism,” she said. “I would also recommend getting involved in your own neighborhood associations. Because there are so many opportunities to get involved and to help the community in Little Rock, it is hard to prescribe one thing that would be most helpful.” Dunnagan’s podcast series and more information about its creation can be found at. The podcasts are also available through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Play.

CALS, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host scholar on race

Janea Snyder — Tue, 28 May 2019 16:40:47 +0000

Acclaimed scholar Richard T. Hughes will speak on “Understanding White Supremacy: Why We Must Hear Black Voices” on June 11 as part of the Central Arkansas Library System’s Rabbi Ira E. Sanders Lecture Series, presented in partnership with ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity. The lecture will begin at noon on Tuesday, June 11, at the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave. After the lecture, Hughes will sign copies of his book Myths America Lives By: White Supremacy and the Stories That Give Us Meaning. According to Hughes, six myths lie at the heart of the American experience. Taken as aspirational, four of those myths remind us of our noblest ideals, challenging us to realize our nation’s promise while galvanizing the sense of hope and unity we need to reach our goals. Misused, these myths allow for illusions of innocence that fly in the face of the primal American myth that stands at the heart of all the others—the myth of white supremacy. Hughes is a professor emeritus at both Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He has written, co-authored and edited more than a dozen books including Illusions of Innocence: Protestant Primitivism in America, 1630-1875 and Christian America and the Kingdom of God. “The notion of white supremacy puzzles some people and offends others,” said Joel Anderson, chancellor emeritus. “In a time when divisions in the nation have increased, we need more than ever to have informed discussion of large issues that divide us, issues of race heading the list. Few scholars can address white supremacyt with the authority of Professor Richard Hughes. His lecture is a rare opportunity to learn from an outstanding scholar who has researched this controversial subject extensively.” The Sanders Lecture was established in 2000 to commemorate Rabbi Sanders’s 40 years of service on the Boards of Trustees of Little Rock Public Library and the Central Arkansas Library System. The lecture includes topics that support Sanders’s commitment to intellectual freedom. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Online reservations are available through the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity. For more information, call 918-3000.

Little Rock community members discuss race, ethnicity, and popular culture

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 14:32:37 +0000

When Jimmy Cunningham Jr. once visited Hawaii, a group of Hawaiian children surprised him with their ideas on how black people act.�� “Native Hawaiian children, who had seen popular videos on television and social media, told me what it meant to be black,” Cunningham told an audience of more than 70 people at the Racial Attitudes Conference April 17 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. “They said, ‘You got to have attitude; you have to be angry; and you have to be able to tear something up,’” Cunningham said. “I asked the kids, ‘Have you ever seen Oprah tear anything up?’ They said, ‘Well, she doesn’t count.’” Cunningham, executive director of the Delta Rhythm & Bayous Alliance, described the encounter during a community panel about the survey results that focused on attitudes toward race, ethnicity, and popular culture in Little Rock. According to the survey results, a majority of blacks and half of whites say the way blacks are portrayed in television and movies hurts day-to-day public perceptions about racial and ethnic stereotypes. This encounter, Cunningham argued, is proof that the way blacks are portrayed in popular culture influences how black people are perceived by others. “When you talk about media portrayals, the representation of what it means to be black is impacted profoundly by people who only see what comes across in popular media,” he said. “This was a very eye-opening experience.” During the survey, the Survey Research Center in the School of Public Affairs interviewed more than 400 white and 400 black people in Little Rock by telephone along with 115 Hispanic respondents. This year’s survey covers a wide range of themes related to popular culture including social relationships, social media, television news, media representations of race and ethnicity, music, residence, and sport protests. “The survey reveals the very different ways in which Hispanics, blacks, and whites consume and relate to popular culture, as well as demonstrating some common understandings and similarities,” said Dr. John Kirk, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity. “Notably, and strikingly, for example, there seems to be a good understanding of and significant support for the NFL ‘take a knee’ protests across racial and ethnic lines.” In the race, ethnicity, sport, and protest section of the survey, a majority of blacks, Hispanics, and whites believe that the football players’ protests are trying to call attention to racism and unfair police tactics and are not trying to disrespect the military or veterans. A majority of all three groups also think that a professional athlete or team who protests an issue by not standing for the national anthem is demonstrating the freedom the anthem represents. Another section of the survey the panel discussed was the results on race, ethnicity, and music. Panel member Stephen Koch, writer/host of “Arkansongs,” a weekly radio program examining and celebrating Arkansas music and musicians, was disappointed with the results that showed people in Little Rock often listened to music along ethnic lines. “We’ve always been told music is a place where our ethnicities don’t matter,” Koch said. “If we are supposed to be sharing culture, we should be sharing our music. Maybe thinking music is a place we can come together is another fallacy.” The survey results found that whites listen to rock, country, and rhythm and blues music often or sometimes, while blacks listen to gospel, religious music, jazz, rap, and hip hop. Hispanics, meanwhile, listened to gospel, religious music, and salsa or Spanish rock often or sometimes. “Who are these white people who aren’t listening to jazz, and I know everybody is listening to hip hop!” Koch said. “We can still come together, but we need to start listening to each other’s music.” Miguel Lopez, Hispanic resource officer for First Community Bank, identified music as one of the avenues that can bring divided communities together. “We tend to say Little Rock is a very divided city, but where we’re not divided is how we interact,” Lopez said. “It’s music or food or sports that can bring us together. We have those avenues where people can come together and realize that we have a lot more in common than we are different. I think the best way to combat racism and bigotry is to interact together.” He was also interested in the survey results that showed Hispanics were the most likely of the three ethnic groups to use social networking sites. “Most Hispanics in Little Rock are first-generation immigrants, so social media is a great avenue for us to stay in touch with loved ones,” Lopez said. “Hispanics are also very entrepreneurially minded, and social media is a great place to boost small businesses.” In a follow-up remark, panel member Kara Wilkins, communications and community engagement strategist, felt that social media offers black and Hispanic people a community space where they can connect. “These individuals see a space for themselves on social media that they may not see in their everyday lives,” Wilkins said. “Social media allows minority groups to discuss things among themselves. People feel like they have a community for themselves.” For more information on the Racial Attitudes Survey, contact the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity at 501-569-8932 or race-ethnicity@ualr.edu. In the upper right photo, community members speak at a panel at the Racial Attitudes Conference April 17 in the Jack Stephens Center. The panelists include, from left to right, Stephen Koch, Miguel Lopez, Kara Wilkins, and Jimmy Cunningham Jr. Photo by Benjamin Krain.��

Grant will support purchase of Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail markers to honor Elaine 12

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 13:49:51 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity received a $4,000 grant from Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock’s Social Justice Advocacy Committee toward the purchase of markers for the 2019 Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail.�� This year’s event will honor the Elaine 12, a group of black sharecroppers who were convicted of murder and sentenced to death by all-white juries in the wave of quick, unjust criminal prosecutions of black people that followed the Elaine Massacre of 1919. The convictions of six of the Elaine 12 were overturned in the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Moore vs. Dempsey, in 1923. Following their release from prison, most members of the Elaine 12 fled the state and changed their names. Many of them lived the rest of their lives in exile, fearing for their safety, with their family members never knowing what happened to them. The markers will be unveiled at a ceremony in the fall as part of a conference at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Elaine Massacre. The Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail was created by the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity in 2011 to acknowledge the sacrifices and achievements made by those who fought for racial and ethnic justice in Arkansas. The trail begins in front of the Old State House Convention Center on Markham Street and will eventually extend to the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park. Each honoree’s name is commemorated with a 12-inch bronze marker on the trail and a biography on the trail’s website. New markers are added to the trail each year in a public ceremony that also recognizes civil rights activities of the past and those who work for racial equality today. The ceremonies have honored sit-ins and freedom rides, the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, the desegregation of downtown Little Rock, the efforts of professionals in the areas of medicine and healthcare, politics and law, and economic advancement, as well as Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller. Last year, the Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail was named a part of the.

Racial Attitudes Conference to focus on race and ethnicity in popular culture

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 15:37:35 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host the 16th annual Racial Attitudes Conference on Wednesday, April 17, to explore attitudes toward race, ethnicity, and popular culture in Little Rock.�� The conference will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Legends Room in the Jack Stephens Center. This year’s survey covers a wide range of themes related to popular culture including social relationships, social media, television news, media representations of race and ethnicity, music, residence, and sport protests. “The survey reveals the very different ways in which Hispanics, blacks, and whites consume and relate to popular culture, as well as demonstrating some common understandings and similarities,” said Dr. John Kirk, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity. “Notably, and strikingly, for example, there seems to be a good understanding of and significant support for the NFL ‘take a knee’ protests across racial and ethnic lines.” In the race, ethnicity, sport, and protest section of the survey, a majority of blacks, Hispanics, and whites believe that the football players’ protests are trying to call attention to racism and unfair police tactics and are not trying to disrespect the military or veterans. A majority of all three groups also think that a professional athlete or team who protests an issue by not standing for the national anthem is demonstrating the freedom the anthem represents. Some of the other results of the survey include:

��Whites are more likely than blacks and Hispanics to describe the place they live in as mostly upper income or mostly middle income.
��Blacks are the most likely to think the place where they live is worse than other places to live.
��Hispanics are the most likely to use social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter while blacks are the least likely.
��Whites are the least likely to see posts about race or race relations on social networking sites while blacks are the most likely.
��A majority of blacks and whites do not think it is ever acceptable for a white or black person to use the n-word.
��Hispanics are more likely to trust television news to report information fairly than whites and blacks.
��A majority of blacks and half of whites say the way blacks are portrayed in television and movies hurts day-to-day public perceptions about racial and ethnic stereotypes, while a majority of Hispanics say it helps or has no effect.

A panel of community leaders will discuss the results of the survey, including:

��Tanisha Joe-Conway, who has spent over 20 years developing, producing, and coordinating public affairs programming for the Arkansas Educational Television Network. ��
��Jimmy Cunningham Jr., a grant writer, voiceover artist, author, community program consultant, and executive director of the Delta Rhythm & Bayous Alliance. Cunningham has been involved in programs focused on the social and cultural development of inner city youth and in research regarding African-American history in the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta area.
��Stephen Koch, an Arkansas Delta native and an award-winning journalist. He is the author of “Louis Jordan: Son of Arkansas, Father of R&B” and writer/host of “Arkansongs,” a weekly radio program examining and celebrating Arkansas music and musicians.
��Miguel Lopez, the Hispanic resource officer for First Community Bank. He serves on the boards of Just Communities of Arkansas, Harmony Health Clinic, Museum of Discovery, and Goodwill of Arkansas Education Initiatives.
��Kara Wilkins, a communications and community engagement strategist, with a background in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She is the founder and president of K. Wilkins Consulting Group and previously served as the corporate communications specialist at Delta Dental of Arkansas.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information on the Racial Attitudes Survey, contact the Anderson Institute at 501-569-8932 or race-ethnicity@ualr.edu.

Holocaust survivor recounts life of hiding during German occupation of the Netherlands

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 14:09:20 +0000

Louise Lawrence-Israëls was born in the midst of the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II and spent her early childhood in hiding with her family just five blocks from where Anne Frank hid with her family in the building where Anne’s father worked.�� “The difference is that I lived, and Anne Frank did not,” said Lawrence-Israëls, a volunteer with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, who spoke in front of a packed crowd on April 2 at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity hosted her lecture, “Memories of the Holocaust,” in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Arkansas. “I didn’t know my name until I was 3 years old,” Lawrence-Israëls said. “They called me Maria. I didn’t realize until later how amazing my parents really were. With two little children, they decided to do anything in their power to give us a normal upbringing and to save our lives.” A member of the military, Lawrence-Israëls’s father was captured and held as a prisoner of war for six weeks when the Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940. That began five long years of German occupation in which Jewish rights were restricted immediately. “Jews couldn’t walk through a park,” she said. “You couldn’t go to a regular hospital. Jewish children couldn’t go to a public school. Using public transportation was forbidden. Every Jew 6 and older was ordered to wear a yellow star. You couldn’t own property. My father owned a textile company. One day, he came to work and was told this wasn’t his business anymore.” Lawrence-Israëls’s father had the fortitude to gather extra textile and fabrics that he hoped would help his family. In the coming years, her father often traded the materials for much needed food in the family’s time of hiding. It was in 1942, after Lawrence-Israëls’ parents had witnessed their neighbors being hauled off in a truck to be deported to a concentration camp, that they went into hiding in Amsterdam. Lawrence-Israëls’ father had buried anything that associated the family with Judaism and acquired false identification papers for the family.

Louise Lawrence-Israëls spends her second birthday in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1944. Photo courtesy of Louise Lawrence-Israëls.

Lawrence-Israëls, who was just 6 months old at the time, moved with her parents, older brother, and a family friend into a storage attic at the top of an apartment building in Amsterdam. The attic had no kitchen or bathroom, just a small sink and toilet. They lived in hiding for the next three years. The only person who left the attic was Lawrence-Israëls’ father, who went in search of food or news. The family had little food and struggled to keep warm during winters. “The only other people we saw were members of the underground resistance,” Lawrence-Israëls said. “My mother and her friend spent most of the time trying to teach us. When you are a child and you learn what a tree is, you go outside and someone points to a tree. We couldn’t do that. My mom was an artist and would draw everything we learned. I could read before I was 3 because that is all we did.” After Canadian forces liberated Amsterdam in May 1945, Lawrence-Israëls entered a whole new world – going outside. “Going outside was the hardest memory for me. My parents took us outside, and the sunlight blinded us,” she said. “We went across the street to the park, and they told my brother and I to play. We didn’t know what that meant. We wanted to go back to the security of the attic.” Lawrence-Israëls and her family moved to the country and tried to put the nightmare behind them. Her parents had three more children, but Lawrence-Israëls is the only one who practices Judaism. “My parents decided they never wanted anything to do with religion again. Religion was dangerous,” she said. “I told my parents when I was 16 I wanted to learn more about being a Jew. They let me make up my own mind, but my parents were scared for me.” Lawrence-Israëls earned a degree in physical therapy in the Netherlands. She married Sidney Lawrence, an American medical student, in 1965 and moved to the U.S. in 1967. After Lawrence retired from the U.S. military in 1994, they settled in Bethesda, Maryland. It took decades for Lawrence-Israëls to let go of the hatred she felt toward Germans. Her wake-up call, she said, came when she received a call from her daughter’s teacher reporting that her daughter had made some derogatory comments toward German students in school. Lawrence-Israëls realized that she had to work through her anger because she did not want to teach her children to hate. “I finally grew up and realized that hatred breeds hatred, and that is how the Holocaust started,” she said. “We always say that history repeats itself, but people repeat themselves.”

Holocaust survivor to discuss her experiences at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:52:31 +0000

A Holocaust survivor will speak about her experiences during the Nazi takeover of the Netherlands on Tuesday, April 2, at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.�� The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity will host the “Memories of the Holocaust” lecture as part of its “Plain Talk on Race and Ethnicity Lecture Series” in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Arkansas. Louise Lawrence-Israëls will discuss her experiences as a Jewish toddler in the Netherlands during the imposition of anti-Semitic laws by Nazi Germany at 4 p.m. in the Donaldson Student Services Center Auditorium. A question-and-answer session will follow the talk. Lawrence-Israëls was born in Haarlem, the Netherlands, in 1942. German forces invaded the Netherlands in May 1940 and set up a German administration in which Jews were forced to wear a yellow star. By July 1942, Jews from the Netherlands were being deported to the extermination camps at Auschwitz and Sobibor. When her family was ordered to move to Amsterdam in January 1943, Lawrence-Israëls and her family went into hiding to escape deportation. Her father rented a top floor apartment and acquired false identification papers for the family. After Canadian forces liberated Amsterdam in May 1945, Lawrence-Israëls had difficulty adjusting since she had not been outside while her family remained in hiding. Lawrence-Israëls earned a degree in physical therapy in the Netherlands. She married Sidney Lawrence, an American medical student, in 1965 and moved to the U.S. in 1967. After Lawrence retired from the U.S. military in 1994, they settled in Bethesda, Maryland. Lawrence-Israëls is a volunteer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact the Anderson Institute at 501-569-8932 or race-ethnicity@ualr.edu.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock