Tuesday, Sep 25, 2007
A half-century after nine courageous black teenagers attempted to enter the previously all white Central High School, nearly 2,000 visitors, many of them former Central High School students themselves, braved oppressive summer heat and humidity to attend the dedication of Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site’s new visitor center.
In a moving tribute to this historic chapter in the story of school desegregation and civil rights, each member of the Little Rock Nine was escorted onstage by a current member of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division. Remarks featured an impassioned keynote tribute to the Little Rock Nine by U.S. Representative John Lewis, a former Freedom Rider and member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and Elizabeth Eckford gave an equally expressive accounting of her experiences that fateful year at Central High School.
Members of the Arkansas National Guard served as color guard for the dedication; the SNCC Freedom Singers performed a stirring a capella rendition of the National Anthem; and both the Freedom Singers and Lawrence Hamilton and Rennaissance vocalized a selection of songs representative of the civil rights movement throughout the program.
Other honored guests and participants included Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, U.S. Representative Vic Snyder, and National Park Service Director Mary Bomar. World renowned poet, author, activist and educator Nikki Giovanni received perhaps the most enthusiastic response of the day following her powerful reading. Central High School Student Body President Cyrus Bahrassa spoke eloquently to the responsibility of the current and future classes of Central High School to carry on the legacy of the Little Rock Nine. The program concluded with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting by the Little Rock Nine.
Little Rock Central High School was designated a National Historic Site by Congress on November 6, 1998, becoming one of 392 units in the National Park System. The school is recognized for the role it played in the desegregation of public schools, and the admission of the Little Rock Nine was the most prominent national example of the implementation of the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling that ‘separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.’
In her remarks during the festivities, National Park Service Director Mary Bomar emphasized “the courage of the nine young Americans whose bravery we rightfully still celebrate here half a century later. These few did more with that chance to make this a better world than most of us could. I am humbled by the opportunity entrusted to us to protect and preserve their legacy.”
The new visitor center, now open to the public, provides approximately 3,000 square feet of exhibit space to interpret the many stories related to the 1957 desegregation crisis, the civil rights movement, and contemporary issues related to civil and human rights. The centers many powerful visual images, first hand accounts from the Little Rock Nine and others, historic documents, and stimulating interactive exhibits offer the visitor an opportunity to experience the quest for equality on an intimate level.
The former visitor center, the historic Mobile Gas Station, will now be utilized as an education center. The opening of the new, significantly larger visitor center will allow the entire staff, for the first time since the site was established, to work together onsite.
“This is a fabulous new resource that we can use to educate and inspire children and other visitors for years to come,” said Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site Superintendent Michael Madell. “Our goal is to enable visitors to develop an understanding and personal connection to the people and events associated with Central High School.”
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site is located at 2120 Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive directly across the street from Central High School. The visitor center is open 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Sunday. Admission is free. For more information call (501) 374-1957 or visit www.nps.gov/chsc.
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