Eckford, Elizabeth, 1941-
Biography:
Elizabeth Ann Eckford made history as a member of the Little Rock Nine, the nine African-American students who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The image of fifteen-year-old Eckford, walking alone through a screaming mob in front of Central High School, propelled the crisis into the nation's living rooms and brought international attention to Little Rock (Pulaski County). Eckford was awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as were the rest of the Little Rock Nine and Daisy Bates, in 1958. In 1997, Elizabeth Eckford shared the Father Joseph Biltz Award (presented by the National Conference for Community and Justice) with Hazel Bryan Massery, a segregationist classmate who appears in the famous Will Counts photograph, and during the reconciliation rally of 1997, the two former adversaries made speeches together. In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented the nations highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, to the members of the Little Rock Nine. She is currently a probation officer in Little Rock and is the mother of two sons. -- Encylopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.
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Archival Collections and Reference Resources
- Mildred Grossman collection (Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery (University of Maryland, Baltimore County))
- [Audio tour of the UN Headquarters, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Betty Bentz presents Elizabeth Eckford, Minnijean Brown, Melba Beals, and Carlotta Walls with the Local 6 Civil Rights Award, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Elizabeth Eckford, Scotty Eckford, and Charles Lewis, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [The Little Rock Nine and friends at the Statue of Liberty, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [The Little Rock Nine arriving at La Guardia Airport, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [The Little Rock Nine at the Statue of Liberty, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [The Little Rock Nine on the set of the musical Jamaica, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Little Rock Nine students and Mayor Robert F. Wagner, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Little Rock Nine students and others listen to Daisy Bates at the Local 6 Civil Rights Award Ceremony, New York, New York, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Little Rock Nine students at auditorium, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Little Rock Nine students dining at the UN, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Little Rock Nine students disembark at La Guardia Airport, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Little Rock Nine students looking at a model of the UN Headquarters, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Little Rock Nine students sitting in a courtyard, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Little Rock Nine students walking in the city, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Little Rock Nine students with a tour guide at the UN Headquarters, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [The Little Rock Nine Visiting the Statue of Liberty, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [The Little Rock Nine with Governor Averell Harriman and union leaders, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Looking out at the city, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Some Little Rock Nine students resting beneath the Statue of Liberty, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Talking outside the UN Headquarters, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- [Thelma and Elizabeth look out the window, New York, NY, 1958] (Black-and-white photographs)
- Southern school news (University of Georgia Libraries)