Freedom knows no color

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 22:50:15 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student received an award from the Pulaski County Historical Society for her paper revealing the unusual history of Little Rock protestors who took on an African American-owned restaurant that practiced segregation.�� Nancy Tell-Hall, who is pursuing a master’s degree in public history at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, received a $200 prize and second place in the F. Hampton Roy Award competition, which is presented by the Pulaski County Historical Society each year to recognize a research article that makes a significant contribution to the expansion of knowledge of Pulaski County history. Tell-Hall was honored during a Feb. 11 ceremony at MacArthur Park, when the society planted a willow oak tree as part of the state’s World War I Centennial Commemoration. Her paper, “An ODD Story: The Desegregation of Fisher’s Bar-B-Q in Little Rock, Arkansas,” will be published in the spring edition of the Pulaski County Historical Review, which is coming out in March. Tell-Hall’s advisor, John Kirk, director of the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity, said that her paper adds a fascinating dimension to understanding the dynamics of racial change in Little Rock. “Nancy is among our first group of graduates from the Anderson Institute’s Race and Ethnicity minor, and it is an outstanding achievement for a student to have their undergraduate work published and recognized with an award,” Kirk said. Tell-Hall’s paper tells the story of Fisher’s Bar-B-Q, owned by Corlee “Doll” Robinson. While the restaurant had an integrated sitting area, it also contained a whites-only room that had nicer flooring and air conditioning. According to Tell-Hall’s paper, the restaurant was a favorite hangout of Arkansas politicians and their families, who entered through the kitchen to avoid the mixed-race dining area. “It was an interesting little episode in Little Rock history,” Tell-Hall said. “As Mr. Boston Torrence (co-owner of a flower shop across from Fisher’s Bar-B-Q) said, ‘that’s just the way it was.’ Mrs. Robinson even went so far as to give the African-American customers the worst cuts of meat.” In June 1962, Wanda Knight Hamilton, an administrative worker at the Urban League of Greater Little Rock, and her friend, hairdresser Irma Coleman Armstrong, both African Americans, sat down in the whites-only section at Fisher’s Bar-B-Q. They were refused service and left after Robinson, who was holding a knife, told them to leave. Afterwards, Hamilton, Armstrong, community members, and organizations began to protest the segregation at the restaurant. In August 1962, Daisy Bates, co-owner of the state’s largest African-American newspaper, met with Robinson, who refused to change her ways. After the contentious encounter with Robinson, Hamilton and Bates formed the Organization for the Destruction of Discrimination, which began picketing the segregated seating at the restaurant on Aug. 20, 1962. The protest continued until Sept. 3, 1962, when the restaurant caught on fire. After meeting with Robinson on Sept. 8, ODD declared a victory. Robinson remodeled the restaurant with one large seating area for all the customers. After the protest, Robinson would even sometimes send complimentary food to the Urban League office, where Hamilton worked. While Little Rock was no stranger to protests against racial segregation, including sit-ins at restaurants, Tell-Hall noted that that the protest was “highly unusual in that it targeted an African American-owned business, whereas the sit-ins and Freedom Riders targeted either white-owned or white-controlled operations.” “Nevertheless, the ODD story does demonstrate the way that local activism captured the attention of Little Rock’s media in the early 1960s,” Tell-Hall wrote. “Acting independently of national movements and the endorsement of national organizations, local African Americans organized and directed social action to pursue their own particular and localized struggles against discrimination… In the end, the freedom struggle knew no color. It was simply about freedom.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock center creates virtual exhibit commemorating 60th anniversary of desegregation of Central High School

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 17:59:53 +0000

The Center for Arkansas History and Culture at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has created a to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High School and the legacy surrounding the historic events.�� “This is a very rich collection of material that is visually appealing and easy to navigate,” said Dr. Deborah Baldwin, director of the Center for Arkansas History and Culture. “The interactive timeline presents events with photos of locations and participants, and the oral histories have been digitized so that one can see and listen to the speaker. The web exhibit designer has done a wonderful job of meshing this historic event with its still current issues.” On Sept. 2, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called the National Guard to prevent nine African American students, known as the Little Rock Nine, from integrating Central High School. The students were eventually allowed to enter school on Sept. 25, after President Dwight Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard, removed them from Central High School, and replaced them with the 101st Airborne who escorted the students to school. Integration was later delayed by the closure of all public high schools in Little Rock during the 1958-59 school year, also known as the Lost Year. The virtual exhibit provides viewers a broad range of perspectives on the desegregation crisis through commentary by witnesses, scholars, and journalists. The website features a media gallery with digitized archival photos, editorial cartoons, documents, and television news coverage of the crisis as well as oral interviews with members of the Little Rock Nine. The exhibit also includes a look at the FBI’s investigation into the Central High School Crisis and disturbing rumors of Arkansans preparing for violence and a review of how other countries reported on the events at Central High School during the.�� For educators, the exhibit includes educational materials with lesson plans covering the Little Rock Nine, Civil Rights activist Daisy Bates, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Lost Year.��

Members of the 101st Airborne escort the Little Rock Nine in and out of Central High School to ensure the students’ safety during the 1957 integration of Central High School. Photo courtesy of the Center for Arkansas History and Culture.

John Kirk, director of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity, said the impact of the events of 1957 is still culturally significant today, six decades later. “The 1957 Little Rock school crisis remains an internationally renowned landmark in the ongoing struggle to secure equal access to education for all students,” Kirk said. Chad Garrett, director of technology and digital initiative, and Jared Craig, website coordinator, created the virtual exhibit. This exhibit grew from the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture’s participation in the Central High Integration 60th Anniversary Committee. The is one of many events honoring the 60th anniversary of the integration of Central High School. More information can be found at the. In the upper right photo, a sign in front of Little Rock Central High School declares the closing of the city’s four public high schools, thus beginning the Lost Year of 1958-1959. Photo courtesy of the Center for Arkansas History and Culture.��

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

Freedom knows no color

����Vlog��ý Little Rock center creates virtual exhibit commemorating 60th anniversary of desegregation of Central High School

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

��Vlog��ý Little Rock center creates virtual exhibit commemorating 60th anniversary of desegregation of Central High School