It was a morning where you take all your clothes into your sleeping bag to warm them up before you got dressed. I made coffee and had an all protein breakfast before heading into the city.
The objective today was to see the capital before work and then tour Little Rock High Scool during a break midday. The capital had a Vietnam war memorial, a Medal of Honor Memorial going back to the Indian Wars, and a monument to the women of the Confederacy who served as nurses, provided supplies, or otherwise aided the troops.
Despite being an avid historian, I was never that interested in the civil war until two years ago when I read "Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy" about four women -- two unionists and two confederates. They were all fascinating women but I was particularly taken with Emma Edmonds who became Frank Thompson and served with honor for the Union. She was never "unmasked" until after the war.
Somehow I missed the staute of the Little Rock Nine at the capital but the park ranger said they all face the window of the governors office. He had many other tidbits and stories which made the tour extremely informative.
When ordered to desegregate, the principal said only 200 black students could come even though the huge school was 850 students below capacity. From there he added restrictions such as where they lived and only ~37 students met the criteria. From there, he "interviewed" each with the intent to discourage them. Then there were 17 the names of which were leaked to the newspaper. They were harassed with phone calls and in some cases, their parents were told they would be fired from their jobs if their child went to Central. That got the number down to 10. One did not return the second day and that left the nine, eight of which are still living.
Elizabeth, the one in the famous picture with her stoic face while she was being harassed and spit on, had been in the park earlier in the day! Oh to have met her. The girl in the background heckling her, Hazel, eventually became friends with her and I purchased a book about them.
Only one of the nine actually got to graduate at Central. This despite his textbooks being stolen and students writing him letters saying it would be easier r them if he didn't come to the ceremony.
The following year, the governor who made many disingenuous comments and actions closed schools in Little Rock (the first non in person learning???). The two girls who were seniors that year finished at achools out of state. Elizabeth was one of them, and her house was bombed a even a year after she left. Minniejean had expelled ; she was blamed for altercations despite being the only one with injuries. The white students knew where the guards were not watching -- like the bathrooms-- and they attacked the black students there. The day after Minniejean was expelled students showed up with printed badge they wore -- one down, eight to go.
As of now, all hold diplomas from central and they are very close to one another still. The area around the school is quite depressed and the stadium and athletic fields are run down. I asked the ranger about the poverty in the area and he cited two reasons. One, there is still a lot of stigma around the area so people aren't moving in, and two, in the 80s when the freeway was constructed it purposely cut the prosperous black area of town in half. (This has occurred in many other cities and just now is being recognized and documented)
I highly recommend a visit to this site and to take the tour. Our history good and bad is important to know and understand.
To decompress and process all of that, I went in search of southern comfort food. I ended up at Maddie's place which was near a bike trail I wanted to check out. Maddie's delivered with fried green tomatoes, a roast beef po boy and a boozy bread pudding. On tap beers were a bit underwhelming as was the bike trail, at least where I was picking it up.
Luckily, I got back to camp in time for a sunset paddle, and I was able to snap some awesome photos.
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