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

��Vlog��ý Little Rock hosts events commemorating 62nd anniversary of Desegregation of Central High School

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 16:34:28 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host two events commemorating the 62^nd anniversary of the desegregation crisis at Little Rock Central High School in partnership with the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law will host a conscience conversation at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, in the Friday Courtroom. Featured speakers will discuss their roles in the civil rights movement. They include Rev. Peter Johnson, a member of the NAACP and Southern Christian Leadership Conference activist who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Sterling Plumpp, a poet, author, educator, and critic; and Judge Wiley Branton Jr., an Arkansas circuit judge. Omavi Shukur, a civil rights attorney and former legal clerk at the Equal Justice Initiative, will facilitate a conversation on applied strategies, impact on communities, and activism today. In the second event, a conscience conversation with members of the Little Rock Nine will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Donaghey Student Center Ledbetter Hall. The speakers include Elizabeth Eckford, author and member of the Little Rock Nine; Jane Hill Williams, one of the original 10 students selected to desegregate Central High School in 1957; and Dr. Sybil Jordan Hampton, the first three-year African American graduate of Central High School. Dr. Terrence Roberts, psychologist and one of the Little Rock Nine, will facilitate a conversation of the impact of the desegregation crisis, examine the speakers’ narrative roles in the civil rights movement, and discuss their activism today. J.A. Fair High School band, choir, and theater students will perform a selection of civil rights-themed songs to begin the program, while a book signing will follow this event. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, call 501-374-1957.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock completes digitization of history of segregation, integration of Arkansas schools

Janea Snyder — Thu, 29 Nov 2018 22:07:31 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Center for Arkansas History and Culture (CAHC) has completed work on a $106,908 grant to digitize materials related to the history of segregation and integration of Arkansas’s educational system. The award was part of the Digitizing Hidden Collections and Archives initiative sponsored by the (CLIR) and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This two-and-a-half year project brought together CAHC, the Central Arkansas Library System’s and the to create a rare collection of materials, housed in three different archives, yet digitally available in a single location. As a result of this project, a unique group of archival collections are now easily accessible online to students and scholars of civil rights, race, education, and the law, as well as the general public. Anyone around the world now has the opportunity to study the evolution of education in Central Arkansas through the lens of religion, the judicial system, and contemporary students and educators. In addition to the more than 350,000 digital files now available online, CAHC has also published a featuring digital objects from the project along with a timeline, lesson plans, and short essays by scholars. “Understanding the multiple dimensions of segregation and integration in Arkansas is greatly enhanced as a result of the grant-funded work completed by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock archivists and students,” said Deborah Baldwin, associate provost of the Center for Arkansas History and Culture. Despite the creation of digital files, each repository will continue to retain the originals in perpetuity. Collections digitized as part of the project include the following:

The contains materials pertaining to Dunbar High School, Little Rock’s high school for black students before integration. This collection originated from a joint effort of the National Dunbar Alumni Association and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.
The was received by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 1981 through FOIA requests. Judge Ronald Davies requested the U.S. Attorney authorize an FBI investigation after receiving information the National Guard had turned away nine African American students who had attempted to attend classes at Central High School in September 1957.
, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas during the Central High integration crisis, spoke out against Gov. Orval Faubus’s handling of the school crisis. Included in Brown’s papers are letters both supporting and criticizing his position.
taught English at Central High School for more than 40 years. She kept a journal during the integration crisis and published a book that was later made into a film.
s 1958 ruling in the case Aaron v. Cooper temporarily halted the integration of Little Rock’s Central High School. His papers contain a scrapbook and correspondence detailing his role in the desegregation crisis.
houses material related to the Little Rock Nine, Women’s Emergency Committee, the organization of the Central High Museum prior to its affiliation with the National Park Service, and oral histories.
The (ODM) is a federal office resulting from a Pulaski County school desegregation case (filed Nov. 30, 1982) and charged with monitoring and assisting efforts of three school districts to meet desegregation obligations and mandates. ODM records include documents, court filings and exhibits, and correspondence, maps, school profiles, and reports concerning compliances, operations, and policies.

Th top right photo (included in the digital archive) shows Daisy Bates looking off from the camera as she and members of the Little Rock Nine wait outside of a door marked “District Attorney Library.” Photo courtesy of Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s 2018 Racial Attitudes Conference will discuss race, ethnicity, and education

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 20:35:02 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity will examine Pulaski County residents’ views on race, ethnicity, and education during the 15th annual Racial Attitudes in Pulaski County Conference on Tuesday, April 24.�� The conference will run from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Legends Room in the Jack Stephens Center. “The survey is focusing on education this year in part to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock schools and, in part, because education continues to be one of the most contentious areas in city conversations about race and ethnicity,” said Dr. John Kirk, director of the Anderson Institute. This year’s panel members include Dr. Corey Anderson, executive vice president of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. Gary Arnold, president of Little Rock Christian Academy, Dr. John Bacon, chief executive officer of eStem Public Charter Schools, Elizabeth Eckford, author and member of the Little Rock Nine who desegregated Central High School in 1957, and Dr. Anika Whitfield, public school advocate. A panel discussion will be followed by a lunch reception and book signing by Eckford, author of “The Worst First Day: Bullied While Desegregating Central High School.” Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event. The results of the study on race, ethnicity, and education are based on 1,915 phone interviews with adults living in Pulaski County conducted by the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Survey Research Center between Aug. 31, 2017, and Jan. 19, 2018. The event is free and open to the public. Please register by filling out this online form. For more information, contact Tamisha Cheatham at 501-569-8932 or tmcheatham@ualr.edu.

John Kirk to reflect on 60th anniversary of desegregation of Central High School

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 17:49:45 +0000

Dr. John Kirk, director of the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will present a lecture on the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High School as part of the Evenings with History series.�� The talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, at Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock, with refreshments served at 7 p.m. Sixty years have passed since the dramatic events surrounding the 1957 desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High School, which led to President Dwight D. Eisenhower deploying federal troops to ensure the safety of nine black students, known as the Little Rock Nine. Kirk’s talk reflects on how the events have been depicted by historians within the context of the broader Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It also explores how popular culture representations of the school crisis have influenced and shaped intellectual debate in theatre, film, essays, poetry, and music. Additionally, the lecture will examine how different approaches to the school crisis by historians from local, state, regional, national, and international perspectives have produced different understandings of the events that unfolded in the city. “In many ways, the historiography of the 1957 Little Rock school crisis provides a microcosm of the wider trends that have shaped historical representations of the Civil Rights movement,” Kirk said. The Evenings with History series, sponsored by the University History Institute, features presentations by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members sharing their current research. Admission to the series is by subscription to the University History Institute, although visitors to individual talks are welcome to attend for free. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students may attend free of charge.

John Kirk commemorates integration of Central High School with Little Rock Nine

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 14:05:53 +0000

In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the integration of Central High School, John Kirk, director of the Anderson Institute on Race and Ethnicity at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, signed copies of his books on African American civil rights history in Arkansas along with members of the Little Rock Nine. On Sept. 2, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent nine African American students, known as the Little Rock Nine, from integrating Central High School. Kirk was invited to participate in the book signing and discussion on the integration of Central High School with five members of the Little Rock Nine on Sept. 23 as part of the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site’s participation in Arkansas Peace Week. Reliving history with members of the Little Rock Nine was both “humbling and enlightening,” Kirk said. “What is remarkable about the Nine is not just what they did back then in 1957 as teenagers in desegregating Central High, but what outstanding models of civil rights heroes they have continued to be ever since,” Kirk said. “Still today, sixty years later, they rise to their responsibilities with incredible good humor and grace, while continuing to be steadfast and uncompromising in their ideals and in their pursuit of justice and equality.” Kirk autographed copies of his books, “Redefining the Color Line: Black Activism in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1940-1970” and “Beyond Little Rock: The Origins and Legacies of the Central High School Crisis.” Members of the Little Rock Nine shared their stories with members of the public and encouraged students to continue to be strong and strive for equality. “The most memorable and clear collective message from the Nine is that the struggle for educational equality continues today, and that they are still very much part of that ongoing struggle,” Kirk said. In the upper right photo, Dr. John Kirk (middle) speaks with members of the Little Rock Nine, Dr. Terrence Roberts (left) and Melba Pattillo Beals (right), during a book signing at Central High School.

��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

����Vlog��ý Little Rock hosts events commemorating 62nd anniversary of Desegregation of Central High School

����Vlog��ý Little Rock completes digitization of history of segregation, integration of Arkansas schools

����Vlog��ý Little Rock’s 2018 Racial Attitudes Conference will discuss race, ethnicity, and education