1 of LR Nine medals finds home at center

Clinton present as tribute goes on display

— There are only nine Congressional Gold Medals honoring the students who made history in 1957 when they integrated Little Rock Central High School, and one of the medals now has a permanent home on exhibit in the Clinton Presidential Center.

In 2009, the members of the Little Rock Nine collectively donated one of their medals to the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation in honor of their relationship with President Bill Clinton. On Saturday, the eight surviving members joined Clinton at the opening of a multimedia exhibit honoring the group.

Carlotta Walls LaNier, the first black female to graduate from Central High and the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine, served Saturday as spokesman for the group. LaNier wouldn’t say which member is now without a medal.

“What’s important is that the Little Rock Nine Foundation has given to this prestigious library for tens of thousands of people who come through here to be able to see what was eventual in the end,” LaNier said. “We are friends with President Clinton, there’s a bond, as I stated, from 1987 through now. What better place than here ?”

The Congressional Gold Medal is one of the nation’s highest civilian honors. Each medal is custom-made to honor its recipient, although the medals for the Little Rock Nine are all alike. Clinton awarded the group the medals in 1999.

The medal on display at the center is embossed with an image of the nine students ascending Central High School’s front steps with armed military guards. The exhibit includes a video compilation with President Dwight Eisenhower’s televised speech in which he said he had called out the National Guard to protect the students. Also on display are the diplomas of LaNier and Ernest Green, the first black male to graduate from Central High.

Joy Secuban, a spokesman for the Clinton Foundation, said it took quite a while to develop the exhibit because, in addition to gathering the artifacts and working with various agencies, the foundation “wanted to create something that would complement the Little Rock Nine Museum at Central High.”

Central High School became internationally known on Sept. 2, 1957, when Gov. Orval Faubus sent Arkansas National Guardsmen to the school. Faubus said he called out the National Guard “to maintain ... the peace and good order of the community” and directed the Guard to prevent the nine black students from entering the school, notwithstanding a court-approved desegregation plan.

On Sept. 20, complying with the order of a federal judge, Faubus removed the guardsmen. When the black students arrived at the school three days later, a violent crowd gathered. The students were removed for their protection.

Eisenhower then federalized the National Guard and sent 101st Airborne Division troops to the school the next day to enforce the school’s integration. The black students attended school the rest of the year under federal protection.

During her introduction of Clinton on Saturday, LaNier took a moment to honor Jefferson Thomas, who died last year.

“This is the first time for all of us to be together without Jeff among us,” she said. “We are eight today, but will always be the Nine.”

During his speech, Clinton called the group “Exhibit A for the modern world.”

“They’re just as relevant today with what [the people] are dealing with in Egypt and throughout the Middle East and what we’re debating in Washington,” Clinton said.

About 200 people attended the opening of the exhibit Saturday. Among them was Mary Davis and a group from Greater Archview Baptist Church in Little Rock.

Davis said she was moved by the exhibit and seeing the Little Rock Nine.

“It was fantastic. Just fantastic,” she said as she and her wards prepared to leave. Davis said a group of about 15 people attended as part of their Black History Month observation.

“I wasn’t even born when it happened, to see them all together was just wonderful,” she said. “They’re living history.”

Davis was joined by Jasmine Brown, 7; Danielle Washington, 12; and Joneicia Stringfellow, 17. Stringfellow said the event was particularly poignant for her. “I’m a senior at Central High,” she said. “I go there and I got to see the people who made history there.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/21/2011

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