It’s Wednesday P.O.U. family and lurkers! This week’s open thread is highlighting the individuals of the Little Rock Nine.
Jefferson Alison Thomas (September 19, 1942 – September 5, 2010) was born in Little Rock to Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Thomas. He was the youngest of seven children. Thomas first attended Horace Mann High School, a segregated all-black school, where he was a track athlete. In 1957, he chose to volunteer to integrate all-white Little Rock Central High School for the 1957–58 school year as a sophomore.
On September 4, 1957, Thomas and the rest of the Little Rock Nine made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Central High School, which had been segregated. Despite the presence of the National Guard, an angry mob of about 400 surrounded the school and prevented them from going in. The National Guard were removed with the protection of the students left to the local police. On September 23, 1957, a mob of about 1000 people surrounded the school again as the students attempted to enter. The following day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent U.S. Army troops to accompany the students to school for protection. The troops were stationed at the school for the entirety of the school year, although they were unable to prevent incidents of violence against the group inside. Despite the harassment, Thomas graduated from Central High School in May 1960, and entered Wayne State University, Detroit. In mid-1961, he relocated to Los Angeles, California. He served as Treasurer of the NAACP Youth Council and State President of the Progressive Baptist Youth Convention. He also attended Los Angeles State College, joined the Student Government, and was elected President of the Associated Engineers. He obtained a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. Thomas also served as an Infantry Squad Leader during the Vietnam War in 1967.
Thomas narrated the United States Information Agency’s 1964 film Nine from Little Rock. In the film Thomas said, “If Little Rock taught us nothing more, it taught us that problems can make us better. Much better.” The goal of this government propaganda film, in the context of the Cold War, was to show, to countries concerned about American racism, the progress the United States had made with respect to civil rights. It achieved this goal at least in part as the film received wide acclaim (including an Academy Award) and was distributed to 97 countries.
Thomas resided in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Mary, and a granddaughter, Amber. He served as a volunteer mentor in the Village to Child Program co-sponsored by Ohio Dominican University, where he received his Honorary Degree, “Doctor of Humane Letters”, on May 13, 2001, for his life-long efforts in human rights and equality advancement.
Thomas was a frequent speaker at numerous high schools, colleges and universities throughout the country. He was the recipient of numerous awards from local and federal governmental agencies which include the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Little Rock Nine by President Bill Clinton in 1999. Also, in 1999, he and the other members of the Little Rock Nine received the NAACP’s prestigious Spingarn Award “for their bravery and heroism throughout Central High’s first year of integration”. In August 2005, the State of Arkansas honored the Little Rock Nine with statues of their likeness on the Capitol grounds.
After more than 27 years as a civil servant, Thomas retired on September 30, 2004, from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Columbus, Ohio. In his later years, he served on the Board of Directors for the City of Refuge Learning Academy at the First Church of God.
Thomas died from pancreatic cancer in Columbus, Ohio, two weeks before his 68th birthday.He was the first of the Little Rock Nine to die. After a funeral in Columbus, he was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
Carlotta Walls LaNier (born December 18, 1942) was the youngest of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was the first black female to graduate from Central High School. In 1999, LaNier and the other people of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton.
Carlotta Walls LaNier was born in Little Rock, Arkansas to Juanita and Cartelyou Walls. Cartelyou was a brick mason and a World War II veteran, while Juanita was a secretary in the Office of Public Housing.
Carlotta first attended Dunbar Junior High School, a segregated school in Little Rock. However, after graduating, she volunteered to be one of the first African-Americans to attend Central High School.
On September 4, 1957, Carlotta and eight other African American students (known as the Little Rock Nine) made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Little Rock Central High School, which had been segregated. Despite the presence of the National Guard, an angry mob of about 400 surrounded the school.
The National Guard were removed with the protection of the students left to the local police. On September 23, 1957, a mob of about 1000 people surrounded the school as the students attempted to enter. The following day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent U.S. Army troops to accompany the students to school for protection. The troops were stationed at the school for the entirety of the school year, although they were unable to prevent incidents of violence inside. During her school year, Carlotta was spat on by white students.
In 1958, Carlotta and the rest of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as was Daisy Bates. Still, the crisis resulted on all of Little Rock’s high schools being closed during that year. Despite this, Carlotta returned to Central High in 1959 and graduated on 1960.
Following her graduation from Central High in 1960, Walls attended Michigan State University for 2 years. However, her father was unable to find a job because of the crisis surrounding his daughter, and they moved to Denver, Colorado. LaNier graduated from Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) and began working at the YWCA as a program administrator for teens. In 1977, she founded LaNier and Company, a real estate brokerage company.
For over 30 years, LaNier has worked as a professional real estate broker. Currently, she is working with Brokers Guild-Cherry Creek Ltd. and formerly worked with Prudential Colorado Real Estate. LaNier is a member of Metrolist, Inc. She married Ira (Ike) LaNier in 1968 with whom she had two children, Whitney and Brooke. She currently resides in Englewood, Colorado.
LaNier and the Little Rock Nine have received numerous awards and recognitions, including the prestigious Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 1958, and the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, which was bestowed upon them in 1999 by President Bill Clinton. She has been a member of the Urban League, NAACP, and is currently president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, a scholarship organization dedicated to ensuring equal access to education for African Americans. She also serves as a trustee for the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, and the University of Northern Colorado.
LaNier was named a “Woman of Distinction” by the Girl Scouts in 2000, and was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in 2004. She recently received the National Shining Star Award from NOBEL/Women (National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women).
***Information courtesy of Wikipedia.org***
