1957 Ad

Ebony, Dec, 1997 by Lerone Bennett, Jr.

Perhaps the strongest statement of the day came from Arkansas' Republican governor, Blank Huckabee, who said, "Today we come to say once and for all that what happened here 40 years ago was simply wrong. It was evil, and we renounce it. What the people did who tried to hold those nine from entering the doors of this high school is forgivable, but it is not excusable."

So saying and affirming with different tones and emphases, the governor of the state of Arkansas and the president of the United States held the doors of Central High School open as nine former students walked, one by one, up the steep and sweet steps into commemorative glory. Daisy Lee Bates, who was confined to a wheelchair, walked with them in spirit, as she did on September 25, 1957. And when her name was called, she rose from her wheelchair and stood for a moment in triumph, as she did on the day the door opened for the first time.

(*) Based on 1957-58 interviews and Ebony story, September 1958.