Minnijean Brown-Trickey | |
---|---|
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior For Workforce Diversity | |
In office 1999–2001 | |
President | Bill Clinton |
Personal details | |
Born | Rogers,Arkansas,United States | September 11,1941
Residence | Canada |
Alma mater | Laurentian University |
Occupation | Civil Rights Activist |
Awards include the Congressional Gold Medal and Spingarn Medal | |
Minnijean Brown-Trickey (born September 11,1941) [1] is an American political figure who was a member of the Little Rock Nine,a group of nine African American teenagers who integrated Little Rock Central High School. The integration followed the Brown v. Board of Education decision which required public schools to be desegregated. [2]
Minnijean Brown was born to Willie and Imogene Brown in Little Rock,Arkansas. Willie worked as an independent mason and a landscaping contractor while Imogene was a homemaker and a nurses aide. Minnijean was the eldest of four siblings. [1] She began her high school career in 1956 at Horace Mann,an all-black school located in Little Rock,AR. She later transferred to Little Rock Central High School in 1957 following the Brown v. Board of Education decision. She was expelled from Central and finished her high school education in New York at the New Lincoln School in Manhattan. [3]
In September 1957,with the help of Daisy Bates,a prominent civil rights activist in Central Arkansas,Minnijean Brown set out to integrate Little Rock Central High School alongside eight other African American students. The students originally attempted to enter the school on September 4,1957,but were stopped by the Arkansas National Guard called in by Governor Orval Faubus. [4] In response,President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,200 U.S. paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to assist the Little Rock Nine in entering the school. [3] On September 25,1957,Brown along with the other eight students desegregated Little Rock Central High School. [4]
Despite the troops being stationed at the high school throughout the '57-'58 school year,the nine students were physically and verbally harassed by their classmates. [3] Brown was the first suspended out of the Little Rock Nine and she was the only one to be expelled. [1] Her suspension was the result of an incident which took place on December 17,1957. While walking through the crowded cafeteria during lunch,Brown-Trickey was harassed and ended up dropping her lunch tray and spilling chili on two male students. [5] She was suspended from school for six days. [5] Following her suspension,Minnijean came back to school and a white student spilled soup on her. He was only suspended for two days. [6] Later,in February,a group of girls threw a purse filled with combination locks at Minnijean. She responded by calling the girls "white trash" and was immediately expelled. [7] After her expulsion,students at Central passed a note around which stated,"One down,eight to go." [7]
Following the incident,Brown moved to New York and lived with Drs. Kenneth B. and Mamie Clark. The Clarks were African American psychologists who helped with the argument presented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the Brown v. Board of Education case. [1]
Brown attended the New Lincoln School in Manhattan for 11th and 12th grade. [3]
Brown attended Southern Illinois University where she majored in journalism. [1] [3] In 1967,Brown married Roy Trickey. The couple had six children before divorcing in the 1980s. [1] One of her daughters,Spirit Trickey,worked for the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site in Little Rock for 10 years. [8] She lived in Canada for a number of years in the 1980s and 1990s,where she studied social work at Laurentian University in Sudbury,Ontario,and later completing a Master of Social Work degree at Carleton University in Ottawa,Ontario. [1] [3] She moved back to America and worked for the Clinton Administration in 1999 through 2001 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Workforce Diversity at the Department of the Interior. [3] [9]
She became a public speaker,and has spoken in 49 states as well as several countries including Canada,England,and South Africa. [10] The speaking event that Brown-Trickey values the most was speaking at an award ceremony for Malala Yousafzai. [3] [11] [8]
Brown-Trickey has been the recipient of many awards including a Lifetime Achievement Tribute by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation,the International Wolf Award,the Spingarn Medal,and an award from the W.E.B. DuBois Institute. [1] [11] Under the Clinton administration,Brown-Trickey received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999 alongside the other members of the Little Rock Nine. [1] [9]
Brown-Trickey has been depicted in two made-for-television movies about the Little Rock Nine. She was portrayed by Regina Taylor in the 1981 CBS movie Crisis at Central High , [12] and by Monica Calhoun in the 1993 Disney Channel movie The Ernest Green Story . [13] A documentary film about Brown-Trickey entitled Journey to Little Rock:The Untold Story of Minnijean Brown Trickey (2002) was produced by North-East Pictures in Ottawa,where Brown-Trickey lived during the 1990s.
Little Rock Central High School (LRCH) is an accredited comprehensive public high school in Little Rock,Arkansas,United States. The school was the site of the Little Rock Crisis in 1957 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation by race in public schools was unconstitutional three years earlier. This was during the period of heightened activism in the civil rights movement.
Elizabeth Ann Eckford is an American civil rights activist and one of the Little Rock Nine,a group of African American students who,in 1957,were the first black students ever to attend classes at the previously all-white Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock,Arkansas. The integration came as a result of the 1954 United States Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education. Eckford's public ordeal was captured by press photographers on the morning of September 4,1957,after she was prevented from entering the school by the Arkansas National Guard. A dramatic snapshot by Will Counts of the Arkansas Democrat showed the young girl being followed and threatened by an angry white mob;this and other photos of the day's startling events were circulated around the US and the world by the press.
Daisy Bates was an American civil rights activist,publisher,journalist,and lecturer who played a leading role in the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957.
Ernest Gideon Green is one of the Little Rock Nine,a group of African-American students who,in 1957,were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock,Arkansas. Green was the first African-American to graduate from the school in 1958. In 1999,he and the other members of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton.
Jefferson Allison Thomas was one of the Little Rock Nine,a group of African-American students who,in 1957,were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock,Arkansas. In 1999,Thomas and the other students of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton.
Carlotta Walls LaNier is the youngest of the Little Rock Nine,a group of African-American students who,in 1957,were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock,Arkansas,United States. She was the first black female to graduate from Central High School. In 1999,LaNier and the rest of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton. LaNier was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2004 and the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2015.
Gloria Cecelia Ray Karlmark is a member of the Little Rock Nine,the nine African-American students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock,Arkansas in 1957. One of the three children of Harvey C. and Julia Miller Ray,she was 15 when she attempted to enter Little Rock Central High School where she was barred from entering by the Arkansas National Guard,under the order of Governor Orval Faubus who opposed integration. They returned to the school weeks later protected by federal troops.
Ronald Norwood Davies was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota. He is best known for his role in the Little Rock Integration Crisis in the fall of 1957. Davies ordered the desegregation of the previously all-white Little Rock Central High.
Thelma Mothershed-Wair is the eldest member of the Little Rock Nine group who attended Little Rock's Central High School following the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education court case. The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis,in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus,then Governor of Arkansas. They then attended after the intervention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The Ernest Green Story is a 1993 American made-for-television biographical film which follows the true story of Ernest Green and eight other African-American high-school students as they embark on their historic journey to integrate Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock,Arkansas,in 1957. The film was developed and executive produced by Carol Ann Abrams. Much of the movie was filmed on location at Central High School.
Crisis at Central High is a 1981 made-for-television movie about the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957,based on a draft of the memoir by the same name by former assistant principal Elizabeth Huckaby.
Elizabeth Paisley Huckaby was an educator.
The Daisy Bates House is a historic house at 1207 West 28th Street in Little Rock,Arkansas,USA. It is significant as the home of Arkansas NAACP president Daisy Bates,and for its use as a command post for those working to desegregate the Little Rock Central High School during the desegregation crisis of 1957–1958. It was a sanctuary for the nine students involved. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001.
The New Lincoln School was a private experimental coeducational school in New York City enrolling students from kindergarten through grade 12.
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis,in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus,the Governor of Arkansas. They then attended after the intervention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Vivion Mercer Lenon Brewer was an American desegregationist,most notable for being a founding member of the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC) in 1958 during the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock,Arkansas.
In the United States,school integration is the process of ending race-based segregation within American public and private schools. Racial segregation in schools existed throughout most of American history and remains an issue in contemporary education. During the Civil Rights Movement school integration became a priority,but since then de facto segregation has again become prevalent.
The Wolf Award is an accolade conferred by a non-profit organization known as The Wolf Project to individuals,organizations,and communities in recognition of their efforts to reduce racial intolerance and to improve peace and understanding. The Wolf Award,which has also come to be known as the International Wolf Award,consists of a certificate of appreciation and a sculpture of a howling wolf,presented in ceremonial fashion to the recipient.
Christopher Columbus "C.C." Mercer was an African-American attorney from Arkansas. He was one of the "six pioneers" who integrated the University of Arkansas Law School. As an attorney,he served as an NAACP field representative to advise Daisy Bates,who spearheaded the efforts of the Little Rock Nine who integrated Little Rock Central High School.
John Carter was an African-American man who was murdered in Little Rock,Arkansas,on May 4,1927. Grabbed by a mob after another Black man had been apprehended for the alleged murder of a white girl,Carter was hanged from a telephone pole,shot,dragged through the streets,and then burned in the center of the city's Black part of town with materials that a white crowd of perhaps 5,000 people had looted from nearby stores and businesses.