Law signed; Central now historic site

JANE FULLERTON
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

WASHINGTON -- Flanked by members of the Little Rock Nine and backed by the voices of a high school choir, President Clinton signed legislation Friday designating Little Rock's Central High School a national historic site.
The bill signing, which came just before the president left for Arkansas, capped an emotional and exuberant White House ceremony attended by six of the nine students who Clinton said "broke through the doors of apartheid" to integrate Central High in 1957.
"Because of all of them," the president said, praising not just the Little Rock Nine but also their parents and other community supporters, "Central High has become a hallowed place, a place every bit as sacred as Gettysburg and Independence Hall."
Those youngsters, now in their 50s, never imagined where their decision to attend Central High would take them.
"None of us expected this to occur in September of 1957," Ernest Green said, referring to the White House ceremony held under a vast white tent on the South Lawn. "We simply thought we were doing the right thing."
Green, who lives in Washington, was joined by Elizabeth Eckford of Little Rock; Carlotta Walls LaNier of Inglewood, Colo.; Terrence Roberts of Pasadena, Calif.; Jefferson A. Thomas of Columbus, Ohio; and Minnijean Brown Trickey of Ontario, Canada.
The three not there were Melba Pattillo Beals of San Francisco, Gloria Ray Karlmark of the Netherlands and Thelma Jean Mothershed Wair of Belleville, Ill.
In addition to the Central High School legislation, Clinton mentioned Congress' recognition of the Little Rock Nine earlier this year, when lawmakers awarded them its highest civilian honor -- the Congressional Gold Medal.
The legislation conferring the medals was included in the omnibus budget bill the president signed two weeks ago. Those medals will be awarded in a separate ceremony next year.
Sen. Dale Bumpers, the Arkansas Democrat who is retiring at the end of this session, played a key role in passing both bills. He explained why the recognition was more than symbolic.
"They were the nine people who endured so much pain to prove that diversity would make us a greater nation, that the freedoms granted in the constitution are not just for some of us, and ... this will never be a good place for any of us to live until it's a good place for all of us to live."
For Bumpers, the legislation and the ceremony for it provided a chance "for this nation to partially atone for its past and repay them for their heroism."
The audience for the event contained a healthy sprinkling of Arkansans, including Everett Tucker III, the former chairman of the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce who spearheaded the effort to create the Central High visitor center and whom Bumpers credited with coming up with the idea of naming the school a historic site.
First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who recalled watching the events as a schoolgirl in Chicago, recounted the words of Beals as she described the determination of the nine students to cross the threshold into a place where "angry segregationist mobs had forbidden us to go."
"And they did," said the first lady. "They did it not only for themselves, but they did it for every child in America."
Several speakers noted the high turnout by black voters in Tuesday's elections, which exit polls showed contributed significantly to the Democrats' unexpectedly strong showing across the country.
What happened in Little Rock, Green said, was part of "a movement that demonstrated itself last Tuesday. A movement that showed we as a country, not just as a group of people, can advance ideas and ideals."
But Clinton pointed out that not only did blacks vote -- they were elected to office in several Southern states, including majority-white congressional districts.
That, he said, "was a part of the road that the Little Rock Nine began to walk for us. ... That is a part of the road we have walked together, a part of what we celebrate today."
At the end of his comments, Clinton signed the bill surrounded by members of the Little Rock Nine and their families. When he finished, the clearly emotional president gave a thumbs up and happily distributed the pens he had used while the Eastern High School Choir from Washington sang a cappella hymns in the background.
Under the legislation, Central High will become the only open, fully operating school that is also a historic site administered by the National Park Service -- what Clinton described as "a living monument forever out of the setting of your struggle."
The measure, which provides $300,000 for planning and development, will allow the National Park Service to help maintain the building and acquire land in the surrounding neighborhood to create new facilities that will expand on the exhibits in the visitor center.
It also will provide an additional $200,000 in construction funds for Charleston to commemorate the role of that city -- Bumpers' hometown -- in becoming the first community in the South to integrate its schools.
While children may never fully understand what those nine students faced as they sought to enter Central High in 1957, the president said, they do need to know what happened.
"For all time to come," he said, "children will have an opportunity to walk the stairs you walked, to see the angry faces you braved, to learn of your sacrifice, and about what, as a result of your sacrifice, you, your fellow Arkansans, and your nation have become."

This article was published on Saturday, November 7, 1998

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