Arkansas Democrat photo by staff photographer Mr. Bisgood.
On Monday, January 23, 1956, twenty-seven African American students attempted to integrate four Little Rock schools. By the end of the day, all four school principals had refused entry and some of the students had met with LRSD Superintendent Virgil Blossom.
Eight girls who were students at Horace Mann High School arrived at Central High at 9:30 am accompanied by Daisy Bates and Frank W. Smith both of the NAACP. One male student attempted to integrate Little Rock Technical High School. Four students arrived at Forest Heights Junior High (accompanied by three adults) and fourteen students attempted to integrate Forest Park Elementary (accompanied by four adults). Neither the Arkansas Gazette nor the Arkansas Democrat broke down the age or gender of the junior high and elementary students.
Though all were referred to meet with Mr. Blossom, only the young women from Horace Mann visited with him. After the conversation both he and Mrs. Bates declared the conversation had been friendly. Mr. Blossom, in denying the request, noted that the Little Rock School District had a plan for integration. To allow them to integrate immediately would have been going against the plan. The integration plan was connected to the completion of the new high school. If it were ready to open in the fall of 1957, then integration at the high schools would start then. The newspapers noted that there was no timeline for when it would extend down to the junior high and elementary levels.
That evening, Rev. J. C. Crenchaw, the president of the Little Rock NAACP, issued a statement. In it he expressed frustration that the LRSD was vague on its timeline for integration. He noted that the students lived near the schools which they tried to integrate and were therefore forced to travel several extra miles each day to attend school. He also commented that the young man who attempted to enroll at Tech was not afforded the training available there at his current school.
The Arkansas Democrat ran a photo of the meeting with Mr. Blossom. It identified the seven students who were pictured. No mention was made as to whether the eighth student was present but not photographed, or if she did not attend the meeting. As was the practice at the time, the addresses of the students were listed by their names. Based on those addresses, the students lived between 0.4 and 0.9 miles from Central High School and were between 2.1 and 3.2 miles away from Horace Mann High School. Of the seven students in the photo, two were seniors, three were juniors, and three were sophomores. None of the students named became part of the Little Rock Nine who did integrate Central High twenty-one months later.
There was no discussion in the media as to how long this plan had been in place or the genesis of it–had it been part of a national initiative or simply the local NAACP? There were also no details as to how the students had been selected.
On January 24, the Gazette editorial writer opined they were glad for the amicable nature of the conversations. They hoped it did not affect the good race relations in Little Rock. The writer concluded by saying they did not want it to incite extremists (but did not specify if they viewed the extremists as being for or against integration.
It seems fitting that I learn of Phyllis Brandon’s death on a Sunday, since she shaped Sundays for so many people for decades.
100 Years Ago
The Democrat (an afternoon paper) ran an article stating that New Year’s celebrations in DC were somewhat muted, perhaps because of concerns about the health of President Wilson, who had suffered a stroke in October 1919. There was also an article about planning being underway for the 300th anniversary of the Mayflower with events set for England, Holland, and the US.
As 1970 dawned, the Gazette and Democrat both carried stories about Vietnam and the Department of Justice seeking a delay in implementation of school desegregation. Locally, it was announced that KATV was purchasing the old Worthen Bank Building at Main and Fourth Streets. The Hogs were getting ready to face Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl (which the Razorbacks would lose by a score of 27 to 22 to the Archie Manning led Rebels).
Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa, in the middle of an eight year prison term, had indicated he would share information with authorities in return for President Nixon commuting his sentence. In local crime news, City Hall and the municipal garage behind the building had been broken into. While there had been a failed attempt to pry open the Collector’s office, thieves had apparently only been able to get a small amount of cash by breaking a vending machine in the building.
Earlier this year, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette marked 200 years since the publication of the first issue of the Arkansas Gazette. For the first two years of its existence, that paper was printed in Arkansas Post. Today marks the anniversary of its first printing in Little Rock.
Christmas Day in 1919 was on a Thursday. In Washington DC, the federal government celebrated its first Christmas since 1916 following the cessation and wrap up of The Great War. (Though the Armistice had been signed in November 1918, they were still winding down operations by Christmas that year a few weeks later.)
On December 24, 1937, at 11:30 a.m., Little Rock Mayor R. E. Overman, Ewilda Gertrude Miller Robinson (the widow of Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson) and Alexander Allaire of the PWA turned dirt to participate in the brief groundbreaking ceremony for Little Rock’s municipal auditorium.