((DONNA)) IT'S BEEN OVER 60
YEARS SINCE 9 AFRICAN AMERICAN
STUDENTS INTEGRATED LITTLE
ROCK'S CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL.
((KEVIN)) THE HISTORICAL
MOMENT CAUGHT THE NATION'S
ATTENTION IN 1957. BUT MANY
PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THAT ACROSS
THE RIVER, SIX OTHER STUDENTS
TRIED TO ENROLL IN CLASS AT
NORTH LITTLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL.
((DONNA)) OUR RE'CHELLE TURNER
SAT DOWN WITH ONE OF THE MEN
RESPONSIBLE FOR CHANGING A
MOMENT IN HISTORY.
((RE'CHELLE)) DONNA KEVIN,
BRAVEáááHERIOCááá
COURGAGEOUSáá FEARLESS AND
BOLD IS HOW I WOULD DESCRIBE
THESE SIX MENááááTHE NORTH
LITTLE ROCK SIX. THEY WERE ALL
TEENAGERS BACK IN THE 1950'S
THEY GREW UP IN A TIME WHERE
THERE WAS SCHOOL FOR BLACKS
AND A SCHOOL FOR WHITES. THEY
TRIED TO INTEGRATE NORTH
LITTLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL BUT
NEVER WENT INSIDE OF THE
BUILDING. MANY PEOPLE DON'T
KNOW WHAT THE NORTH LITTLE
ROCK SIX HAD TO GO THROUGH. I
SAT DOWN WITH ONE OF THE MEN
WHO'S MAKING SURE THEIR STORY
IS TOLD.
MEET RICHARD LINDSEY. Richard
Lindsey/Member of NLR 6 "Today
is a good day, it really is. I
feel good." THE 79áYEAR LIVES
A FEW BLOCKS AWAY FROM NORTH
LITTLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL. BUT
THINGS WERE A LOT DIFFERENT
60á PLUS YEARS AGO. RICHARD
WAS 17ááá YEARS OLD IN 1957.
Richard Lindsey/Member of NLR
6 "The summer was coming and I
was looking forward to being a
senior." HE WAS SET TO FINISH
OUT THE SCHOOL YEAR AT SCIPIO
A JONES HIGH SCHOOL áTHE BLACK
SCHOOL IN NORTH LITTLE ROCK.
BUT HIS AUNT TOLD HIM
SOMETHING ELSE. Richard
Lindsey/Member of NLR 6 "You
are going to school in the
morning with about five or six
other people and y'all are
going to try something." THE
SCHOOL DAY WOULD TURN INTO A
HISTORIC MOMENT FOR RICHARD
LINDSEY, FRANK HENDERSON,
EUGENE HALL, WILLIAM
HENDERSON, GERALD PARSONS AND
HAROLD SMITH. Richard
Lindsey/Member of NLR 6 "We
were going to walk up to that
school and we were going to
integrate North Little Rock
High School this particular
day." IT WAS SEPTEMBER 9,
1957áááA DAY LINDSEY VIVIDLY
REMEMBERS. Richard
Lindsey/Member of NLR 6 "It
was scary for the first time,
they gave us these directions
and they told us don't look
down, keep your head up and
walk straight ahead." OLD
NEWSPAPER FROM 1957 SHOW THE
SIX TEENS AND FOUR AME
MINISTER AS THEY MADE THEIR
WAY TO NORTH LITTLE ROCK HIGH
SCHOOL SURROUNDED BY CHAOS AND
PEOPLE YELLING RACIAL SLURS.
Richard Lindsey/Member of NLR
6 "I was on the edge and their
was a hand on my neck. I guess
at first I might have been
scared but it just laid up
there and it said I just want
TRANSITION "This is where that
person touched my neck he
wanted to know what I felt
like." THEY MADE IT THROUGH
THE CROWD AND WALKED UP THESE
STEPS... WHERE THEY WERE
APPROACHED BY THE
SUPERINTENDENT. Richard
Lindsey/Member of NLR 6 "He
told us that we cannot enter
the school today because what
had happened in Little Rock
last week." JUST DAYS BEFORE
ON SEPTEMBER 4, 1957 áááá NINE
BLACK STUDENTS TRIED TO ENROLL
AT THE ALLáWHITE LITTLE ROCK
CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL. ALL EYES
WERE ON THE NATURAL STATE AS
THE THE GOVERNOR ORDERED THE
NATIONAL GUARD TO KEEP THE
STUDENTS OUT. FIVE DAYS
LATERáááá THESE SIX STUDENTS
ATTEMPTED TO GO TO SCHOOL
ACROSS THE RIVER áááTHEY WERE
DENIED ENTRY INTO NORTH LITTLE
ROCK HIGH SCHOOL. Richard
Lindsey/Member of NLR 6 "It
was over for the next 50 years
as far as North Little Rock is
concerned because central took
over and North Little Rock
never existed it never came up
and not that much written or
spoken about it. The newspaper
did their daily thing. We were
considered not important for
50 years." THEY MADE THEIR WAY
BACK DOWN THESE STEPS. Richard
Lindsey/Member of NLR 6 "They
saying go home and don't come
back and all this stuff but we
kept walking." RICHARD
FINISHED HIS SENIOR YEAR AT
SCIPIO A JONES HIGH SCHOOL. HE
AND HIS FRIENDS BECAME THE
UNSUNG HEROES OF NORTH LITTLE
ROCK. Richard Lindsey/Member
of NLR 6 "Wow there was
nothing heroic about what we
did. We did what we were told
because were kids and it was
1957." RICHARD STILL
VISITSááááTHE OLD NORTH LITTLE
ROCK HIGH SCHOOLáááMAKING HIS
WAY TO THE TOPááá ONE STEP AT
A TIME. AND WHILE MANY DON'T
KNOW THE STORY OF THE NORTH
LITTLE ROCK SIX. "And we kept
on walking just kept on
walking" IT WAS ONLY A DAY IN
1957 ááááBUT MOMENT IN HISTORY
THAT CONTINUES TO LIVE ON.
((RE'CHELLE)) THE NORTH LITTLE
ROCK SIX NEVER ENROLLED IN
CLASSES AT NORT LITTLE ROCK
HIGH SCHOOLáááBUT LATER THAT
MONTH THE LITTLE ROCK NINE
ENTERED CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL
FOR THE FIRST TIME ON
SEPTEMBER 25,1957. IN
1963áááFIVE BLACK STUDENTS
ATTEMPTED TO SIGN UP FOR
CLASSES IN NORTH LITTLE ROCK
BUT THE SCHOOL BOARD REJECTED
THE APPLICATION. THE SCHOOL
BOARD ADOPTED A PLAN TO
DESEGREGATE ALL GRADES. ON
SEPTEMBER 6, 1966, 20 BLACK
STUDENTS FINALLY ENTERED NORTH
LITTLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL.
((DONNA)) RECHELLE THE NORTH
LITTLE ROCK SIX CERTAINLY
HELPED PAVE THE WAY. DID THEY
RECEIVE ANY RECOGNITION? THEY
DIDááá LINDSEY SAYS FORMER
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON HONORED
THEM ááááHE ALSO HAS A PLAQUE
FROM STATE LEGISLATURES
CELEBRATING THEIR BRAVERY AND
IF YOU EVERY VISIT MILITARY
HEIGHTS PARK IN NORTH LITTLE
ROCK THERE IS A SIGN
RECONGNIZING THEM. LINDSEY
SAYS HE AND THE FIVE OTHERS
GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL AND
FINISHED COLLEGE. ONLY THREE
OF THE SIX MEN ARE STILL
LIVING. ONE IS LIVING IN LOS
ANGELES, AND THE OTHER IS
CURRENTLY LIVING IN DAYTON,
OHIO. LINDSEY IS THE ONLY ONE
THAT STILL LIVES IN ARKANSAS.
((KEVIN)) COMING UP.... HOW
THE VIOLENT MURDER OF A BENTON
WOMAN LANDED HER 71áYEARáOLD
FATHER IN HANDCUFFS. PLUS THIS
áá