Eckford To Deliver First NSU Centennial Lectureship

TAHLEQUAH Northeastern State University will host the first Centennial Lecture featuring Elizabeth Eckford, a member of the Little Rock Nine, on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 3 p.m. in the NET Building Auditorium.

The lecture is free and open to the public and will be broadcast to the Broken Arrow campus.

In 1957, Little Rock Central High became a battleground in the struggle for civil rights when a handful of students, later dubbed the Little Rock Nine, desegregated the school. Eckford is best known for a black-and-white photo taken of her walking through a hate-filled mob on the first day of school.

After high school, Eckford lived in anonymity and has just recently started giving public talks, although she admits it is painful for her to walk through her past. She said she does it because true reconciliation can occur when people honestly look back on a shared history.

Eckford is the recipient of many awards, including the NAACPs highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, and ACLUs Florena Lasker Civil Liberties Association Bar Associations Sankofa Award. In 1999, Eckford and the other Little Rock Nine received the Congressional Gold Medal in a White House Ceremony.

Eckford is presented by the Centennial Lectureship Committee in conjunction with the Oklahoma Speech Theatre Communication Association (OSTCA) and the Tahlequah chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

OSTCA will host a luncheon, preceding the lecture, at 1 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. Tickets for non-OSTCA members are $12 and must be purchased in advance by calling 918-444-3608.

9/3/2008

Published: 2008-09-03 00:00:00