III 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 355 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding Boston’s celebration of the 

Little Rock Nine on the 50th anniversary of their courageous and selfless 

stand in the face of hatred, violence, and intolerance. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 24, 2007 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding Boston’s celebration of the Little Rock Nine on the 50th anniversary 

of their courageous and selfless stand in the face of 

hatred, violence, and intolerance. 

Whereas, on October 24, 2007, the legacy of the Little Rock 

Nine will be celebrated in Boston’s Faneuil Hall; 

Whereas, in Faneuil Hall, abolitionists of the 19th Century 

publicly attacked the evils of slavery in the United States; 

Whereas Massachusetts was the center of the United States 

abolitionist movement and a national leader in providing 

public education to all students, regardless of race or ethnicity; 

Whereas abolitionist leader and Newburyport, Massachusetts 

native William Lloyd Garrison fueled the abolitionist 


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•SRES 355 IS 

movement through his powerful writing in his newspaper, 

‘‘The Liberator’’, and fiery public oratory; 

Whereas the ‘‘Father of American public education’’, Franklin, Massachusetts native Horace Mann, advocated for 

the end of slavery and improved access for all students 

to quality public education; 

Whereas, in 1832, Garrison and other abolitionists gathered 

at the African Meeting House on Boston’s Beacon Hill 

and founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society; 

Whereas, in 1855, the Massachusetts legislature outlawed 

segregation in the State’s public schools; 

Whereas, on May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme 

Court issued its ruling in the case of Brown v. Board of 

Education of Topeka and declared that segregated education was unconstitutional; 

Whereas many elementary and high schools and colleges and 

universities throughout the United States continued to 

enforce a system of educational inequality in which students of color were denied access to their right to a quality public education; 

Whereas, 3 years after the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the school board of Little Rock, Arkansas, announced it would implement a gradual integration 

of its school system beginning in September 1957; 

Whereas the Little Rock chapter of the National Association 

for the Advancement of Colored People selected 9 outstanding African-American students to attend previously 

all-White Little Rock Central High School; 

Whereas, on September 4, 1957, those 9 African-American 

students, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest 

Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Pattillo, Gloria Ray, 


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•SRES 355 IS 

Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls 

attempted to enter Central High School; 

Whereas, on September 4, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval 

Faubus mobilized the Arkansas National Guard and ordered the armed soldiers to block the 9 African-American 

students from entering Central High School; 

Whereas, after a Federal judge ordered Governor Faubus to 

remove the National Guard, police officers and citizens of 

Little Rock took up positions at the entrances to Central 

High School and continued to block the African-American 

students from entering; 

Whereas, on September 23, 1957, after learning that the 9 

African-American students had successfully entered the 

school, a segregationist mob gathered at Central High 

School and the African-American students had to be escorted from the school for fear that they would be killed; 

Whereas, on September 23, 1957, Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann, in a telegram to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, appealed to the President to send Federal troops 

to protect the students and ensure the integration of 

Central High School; 

Whereas, on September 24, 1957, President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division of the United States 

Army to Little Rock and federalized the entire Arkansas 

National Guard; 

Whereas, on September 25, 1957, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba 

Pattillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls walked through the front doors of 

Central High School, as thousands of White students had 

done before them; 


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•SRES 355 IS 

Whereas despite the constant presence of United States soldiers, the 9 African-American students were physically 

and verbally harassed throughout the school year; 

Whereas Minnijean Brown, after enduring months of physical 

and verbal harassment and assaults, was expelled from 

Central High School for a verbal retort aimed at one of 

her antagonists; 

Whereas, at the end of the 1957–1958 school year, Ernest 

Green became the first African-American graduate in the 

history of Central High School; 

Whereas Minnijean Brown Trickery became a prominent social activist and works as a writer and social worker in 

Ontario, Canada; 

Whereas Ernest Green attended Michigan State University, 

later served as Assistant Secretary of Housing and 

Urban Affairs under President Jimmy Carter, and currently is a managing partner and vice president of Lehman Brothers; 

Whereas Elizabeth Eckford had a successful career in the 

same United States Army that protected her at Central 

High School, raised 2 sons in Little Rock, and now works 

as a social worker; 

Whereas Thelma Mothershed-Wair returned to school as a 

teacher and now volunteers in a program for abused 

women; 

Whereas Melba Pattillo Beals is an author and journalist for 

People Magazine and NBC Universal; 

Whereas Gloria Ray Karlmark graduated from Illinois Technical College and is a successful computer science writer 

whose work has been published in 39 countries; 


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•SRES 355 IS 

Whereas Terrence Roberts is now Dr. Terrence Roberts and 

teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles 

(UCLA) and Antioch College and also works as a clinical 

psychologist; 

Whereas Jefferson Thomas graduated from Central High 

School in 1960 and works for the Department of Defense 

as an accountant; 

Whereas Carlotta Walls Lanier graduated from Central High 

School in 1959, attended Michigan State University, and 

has found success in the field of real estate; 

Whereas the Little Rock Nine, in brave defiance of segregation, proved that with access to educational opportunity 

all students are capable of greatness, regardless of race 

or ethnicity; 

Whereas the courage of the Little Rock Nine, broadcast for 

the entire world to see, inspired other students of all colors to take a stand on behalf of tolerance, integration, 

and equality; 

Whereas the courage of the Little Rock Nine demonstrated 

to segregationists throughout the United States that hatred and intolerance were no match for the bravery of 9 

high school students; and 

Whereas, 50 years after the integration of Central High 

School, all Americans must remain vigilant in order to 

ensure that every child has access to quality public education, regardless of race or ethnicity: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) joins with the people of Massachusetts in 

3 honoring the courage of the Little Rock Nine; 


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•SRES 355 IS 

1 (2) pledges to advance the legacy of the Little 

2 Rock Nine; 

3 (3) endeavors to ensure that no American is de4 nied access to education because of race or ethnicity; 

5 and 

6 (4) encourages the people of the United States 

7 to remember— 

8 (A) the courage of the Little Rock Nine; 

9 and 

10 (B) the vital importance of equal oppor11 tunity in education. 

Æ 


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