9
A newspaper in education Supplement to THE WASHINGTON TIMES
|
WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 28 • 2013
ber 1958 Faubus was named one of the ten most
admired men in the world by a Gallup poll along
with Pres. Eisenhower, Sir Winston Churchill, Dr.
Jonas Salk (polio vaccine), and other prominent
leaders.
Resource:
The Library of Congress features an
online exhibition entitled “NAACP: A Century
in the Fight for Freedom 1909-2009” which in-
cludes many primary source documents from the
Civil Rights era, including documents related to
the Little Rock school desegregation effort. Visit
-
sera/Pages/SlObjectList.aspx
to explore these
resources. Students can pick one primary source
to analyze.
Elizabeth Eckford attempting to
enter Little Rock High
On September 4, the day they were to enter the
school, eight of the students arrived at the meet-
ing location at 12th Street and Park Avenue, but
15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford was not aware of
the meeting place and arrived alone at Central
High. She was soon surrounded by the jeering
mob. She recounted, “Someone shouted ‘Here
she comes, get ready.’ …When I steadied my
knees, I walked up to the guard who had let the
white students in. He didn’t move. When I tried to
squeeze past him, he raised his bayonet… Some-
body started yelling, ‘Lynch her! Lynch her!’ I tried
to see a friendly face somewhere in the mob—
someone who maybe would help. I looked into
the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind
face, but when I looked at her again, she spat on
me. They came closer, shouting, ‘No n----r bitch
is going to get in our school. Get out of here!’ I
turned back to the guards but their faces told me
I wouldn’t get any help from them. Then I looked
down the block and saw a bench at the bus stop.
…Kept saying to myself, ‘If I can only make it to
the bench I will be safe.’ …Someone hollered,
‘Drag her over to this tree! Let’s take care of that
n----r.’ Just then a white man sat down beside me,
put his arm around me…and said, Don’t let them
see you cry.’ Then a white lady—she was very
nice—she came over to me on the bench. …She
put me on the bus and sat next to me. …The next
thing I remember was standing in front of the
School for the Blind, where Mother works.”
Quote Source:
The Eye on the Prize Civil Rights
Reader,
Penguin Books, 1991, p. 102-103
Resource: View a related video on History.com
at
videos#little-rock-9
Ask students to analyze the video and respond to
the imagery. What kinds of sources are used in
this video? What story does the video tell?
On February 1, 1960, four African American
students from North Carolina A&T University
held a sit-in to integrate a Woolworth's lunch
counter in Greensboro, N.C., launching a decade
wave of similar student protests across the South
with over 70,000 participants and 3,000 arrests.
The sit-ins attracted national media attention
and federal intervention in the South. The sit-ins
were also the foundation to establish the Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in
April 1960.
“After selecting the technique, then we said,
‘Let’s go down and just ask for service,’” said
Franklin McCain. “It certainly wasn’t titled a ‘sit-
in’ or ‘sit-down’ at that time. …A policeman who
walked in off the street…just looked mean and red
and a little bit upset and a little bit disgusted. …
You had the feeling that this is the first time that
this big bad man with the gun and the club has
been pushed in a corner…—he doesn’t know what
he can or what he cannot do. He’s defenseless. …
We’ve provoked him, yes, but we haven’t provoked
him outwardly enough for him to resort to vio-
lence. And I think this is just killing him; you can
see it all over him.” (Source: Howell Raines, My
Soul is Rested, 1977)
As the sit-ins continued, tensions grew in
Greensboro Four Lunch
Counter Sit-Ins
Troops from the 327th Regiment, 101st Airborne escorting the Little Rock Nine African-American students up the steps of
Central High.
There was a little old white lady who was
finishing up her coffee at the counter. She
strode toward me and I said to myself, “Oh my,
someone to spit in my face or slap my face.” I
was prepared for it. But she stands behind Joseph
McNeil and me and puts her hands on our
shoulders. She said, “Boys, I’m so proud of you.
I only regret that you didn’t do this 10 years ago.”
That was the biggest boost, morally, that I got
that whole day, and probably the biggest boost
for me during the entire movement.
— Franklin
E. McCain, Sr.
(Source of image & quote:
)
