Vice Principal Elizabeth Huckaby, 93, dies

Elizabeth Paisley Huckaby, the vice principal of Little Rock Central High School who was given the responsibility for assisting the six black students through the first year of desegregation in 1957-58, died March 18, 1999 in Little Rock. She was 93.

Mrs. Huckaby kept a diary of events at the school during that year and wrote a book from those thousands of pages of notes." Crisis at Central High" was published in 1981. The previous year, Time-Life Productions produced a made-for-TV docudrama of the same name based on the draft of her book. Her part was played by Joann Woodward.

Robin Loucks, a former student at the time, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, " She was a staunch defender of the Constitution."

Mrs. Huckaby had continued to live in the same house since 1933, until health problems forced her to move to a retirement home three years ago. Her husband, G.T. Huckaby died in the mid-1960s. He had been principal of Pulaski Heights Junior High School in Little Rock.

She earned bachelor and master degrees in education from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and was a Phi Beta Kappa. She taught English in Fort Smith and Little Rock and was vice principal for girls at Little Rock Central High School from 1954 to 1969.

She is survived by her sister, Clara Paisley Doyle of Danville, California; her brother, Clifton Lewis Paisley of Tallahassee, Fla.; and several nephews, nieces and cousins.

A memorial service was held for Mrs. Huckaby on Tuesday, March 23, at Pinecrest Memorial Park in Saline County, Arkansas. A number of former and present teachers from Central High attended, as did members of the 1958 graduating class, including the 1957-58 student body president Ralph G. Brodie.

Memorials may be made to Central Arkansas Library System, 100 Rock Street, Little Rock, AR 72201, or to any favorite charity.

Symposium on 1957 Media Coverage at Central

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - "Dateline:Central High", a symposium on the media coverage of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School 40 years ago will be held in the school's auditorium at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19.

The public is invited and the program is free of charge.

Sponsored by the Arkansas chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Arkansas Press Association, the symposium will bring together reporters, photographers, cartoonists and editors to talk about how they covered the 1957 crisis, when nine black students were turned away from the previously all-white school by Arkansas National Guardsmen called out by then Gov. Orval Faubus.

The black students were admitted a few weeks later under the protection of federal troops sent by President Dwight Eisenhower. To mark the 40th anniversary of that date, President Bill Clinton will participate in a special program at the school on Sept. 25.

Three Pulitzer Prizes, journalism's highest award, were given for coverage of the 1957 events - two to the Arkansas Gazette and one to the Associated Press. The approximately two-hour program on Friday, Sept. 19, will be moderated by KARK-TV anchorman Steve Barnes and consist of two panel discussions, one among the reporters and editors involved in covering the events of 1957 and the other among those whose powerful images in photographs, editorial cartoons and film footage helped draw the world's attention to daily developments on the scene.

The symposium will close with remarks about Faubus' relationship with the media by Roy Reed, a former Gazette and New York Times reporter and author of anew biography of the former governor.

CONTACT: Kitty Chism

(501) 758-2571

Judge Arnold to Discuss Courts and Central High at UALR School of Law

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law will host the finale for the Central High School 40th Anniversary commemorative events on Monday, September 29, from 4 to 6 p.m. At that time, a group of judges and attorneys, including Richard S. Arnold, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit, will discuss The Role of the Judiciary in the Central High Crisis. Joining Judge Arnold will be United States District Judge George Howard; Little Rock attorney Richard C. butler; and Philip Anderson, a Little Rock attorney who is President-elect of the American Bar Association.

The lecture and discussion will take place at the UALR School of Law at 1201 McAlmont Street, east of MacArthur Park, in the Herschel Friday Courtroom on the first floor. The public is welcome to attend and there is no cost for admission or parking.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Julie Baldridge Speed

(501) 324-9924

Billy Graham video message, Evander Holyfield, d.c. Talk to Lead Racial Reconciliation Rally at Riverfest Amphitheater

Sunday, September 21, beginning at 3 p.m., thousands of people will rally at the Riverfest Amphitheater to advance the cause of racial harmony throughout Little Rock and across the state. This historic event will mark the beginning of Racial Reconciliation Week in Arkansas as proclaimed by Governor Mike Huckabee.

The rally will strengthen the emerging new spirit of cooperation and efforts within our community to bring a renewed sense of unity and hope as we approach the 21st century.

Objectives of the rally are to promote a spiritual solution to the problem of racism, to strengthen the emerging new spirit of cooperation and efforts within our community to bring a renewed sense of unity and hope as we enter the 21st century, to provide private citizens, civic leaders, organizations and churches the opportunity to work together and experience success in an inter-racial interdenominational effort, and to expose the nation to a cooperative and unified Little Rock, Arkansas.

The Rally is scheduled to feature several nationally and internationally known speakers and entertainers including: Dr. Billy Graham (by video tape); Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World Evander Holyfield; d.c.Talk, top grossing Christian touring act of 1996; CeCe Winans, multiple Grammy Award winner; Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee; and Little Rock Mayor Jim Dailey. There is no admission charged. A $5 suggested donation will be collected at the gate.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Greg Murtha (501) 960-6684

T.J. Williams (501) 661-1037, ext. 177

October 9, 1997

BUMPERS ASKS AWARD OF CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL

TO THE "LITTLE ROCK NINE"

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-AR) Thursday asked the Senate to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the nine students who courageously integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

"Sometimes we worry that there are no heroes in our country today, no one for our children to look up to, no one to inspire us to be our best selves. But two weeks ago, we saw a vivid reminder that there are still heroes among us. The Little Rock Nine returned to Little Rock Central High School to stride again through its doors. This time those doors were held open by the Governor of Arkansas and the President of the United States," Bumpers said in a statement accompanying his bill to award the nine students the Congressional Gold Medal.

The nine students were Jean Brown Trickey, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Melba Patillo Beals, Terrence Roberts, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed Wair, Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford and Jefferson Thomas.

"On a fall day in 1957, these nine Americans were teenagers, children really, and they marched up the steps of Little Rock Central High School, young black teenagers amid a crowd of angry white people who despised them for presuming to attend a public school in their own home town. They marched up those steps with a cool courage that inspires awe to this day, no matter how often we see the grainy newsreels," Bumpers said.

"In 1957, Little Rock was not a big city but for a few days it became the center of the world. Arkansas was not the most staunchly segregationist state in the South, but politics, history and fear conspired to make it the crucible for the authority of Brown v. Board of Education. Through that storm of controversy marched these nine young people, frightened but dignified, sensing they were helping overcome a profound obstacle," Bumpers said.

"They were opposed by the governor, by most every local leader, by their peers and by a fully armed unit of the National Guard. They were able to enter the school only when President Eisenhower ordered in units of an Airborne division to escort them and enforce the order of the Supreme Court. But it was not the power of the soldiers or the authority of the law that won the day. It was the grace and courage of those nine young people," Bumpers said. "Today, even those that jeered acknowledge they were impressed and moved by the courage of those nine kids. The images of those days in Little Rock and the extraordinary lives led by these nine sons and daughters of Arkansas are proud symbols of the progress we have made in America and a solemn reminder of the progress we have yet to make."

"Their grace and courage prevailed that day and has inspired us for 40 years. They deserve our thanks and admiration. They deserve a medal. We should present those nine heroes of Little Rock with the Congressional Gold Medal as a permanent remembrance of their unforgettable moment of courage. I hope all of my colleagues will cosponsor this bill and see that it quickly becomes law," Bumpers said.

Bumpers, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured $150,000 in the Interior Appropriations Bill for a feasibility study on making Little Rock Central High a national historic site in the U.S. National Park System.

In the bill, Bumpers also secured $50,000 for a similar study for Charleston, Ark., which in 1954 was the first locality in the South to integrate its schools after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. A Charleston native, Bumpers helped lead that historic effort as the town attorney and a member of the Charleston school board.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) has introduced a similar bill in the House of Representatives.

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