On the morning of September 4, 1957 Elizabeth Eckford arrived at the school separately from her friends, due to the family not having a phone. Denied entry by Arkansas National Guard soldiers, she walked a terrifying 2 blocks alone to await a city bus while followed and taunted by an angry mob. Elizabeth met us at the Little Rock Nine memorial statues for some photographs.
“We weren’t the people the NAACP expected to go to school….we weren’t litigants. We were what was left. Let me emphasize: we were ordinary people……How could you leave without segregation ending? --- these were the kind of questions that motivated us. [Having courage] was something you thought about every day. My grandfather had a great impact [on me]; he had a great love of people. The thing I found so shocking was that there were adults who would act to hurt a child.” Now as a probation officer it hurts Elizabeth to see young blacks killing one another.
“We weren’t the people the NAACP expected to go to school….we weren’t litigants. We were what was left. Let me emphasize: we were ordinary people……How could you leave without segregation ending? --- these were the kind of questions that motivated us. [Having courage] was something you thought about every day. My grandfather had a great impact [on me]; he had a great love of people. The thing I found so shocking was that there were adults who would act to hurt a child.” Now as a probation officer it hurts Elizabeth to see young blacks killing one another.
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