Funny you mention that. I talked to Minniejean (Brown) Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine, about that very day in front of CHS for my documentary, "Constitution USA."
You would think that of all people, she would be satisfied with the government's response to racism and hate. Ike sent the 101st Airborne to escort her to class!
But what I didn't know is that after the 101st left, CHS expelled her on a trumped up charge of assault after she spilled some chili on a white student.
She spilled some chili. After being tripped by another white kid. "We got rid of one of them!" the teachers bragged.
She spilled some chili. After being tripped by another white kid. "We got rid of one of them!" the teachers bragged.
Then, of course, rather than continue to allow black students to attend CHS, the governor of Alabama closed the schools. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ro…"The_Lost_Year"
Ms Brown looked around the country post high school. She saw Jim Crow, firehoses turned on Blacks, the murder of the Birmingham Four and the Mississippi Three. She moved to Canada.
As of 2012, she found herself coming back to Little Rock, a place she told me she never wanted to see again. But she had family. And the National Historic Site center was there. She liked to drop by, talk to the kids about what happened.
Now she lives in Little Rock full time. She doesn't care that her name is inscribed on a bench in front of the school. She doesn't care that your dad welcomed her back in '99. She spends time at the Center, telling people what really happened. You should go talk to her.
(Sorry: Arkansas, obviously. Typing too quickly.)
Here's me, talking to Ms Trickey and Marty Sammon, who served with the 101st at Little Rock. Buddy Squiers on camera. CHS is off to the left. 
