Participants and Their Accomplishments


Minnijean Brown

Minnijean Brown was born September 11, 1941, and was apart of the Little Rock Nine in 1957. Her dad was Willie Brown who was an independent mason and landscape contractor. Minnijean also had a mom named Imogene who was a homemaker and nurse-aid. Minnijean was at Horace Mann, an all-black school in Little Rock before she moved to Little Rock Central. She got expelled from Little Rock Central, but she ended up getting a diploma and going to Southern Illinois University. She got married and had 6 children before a divorce. After that, she became a public speaker to tell her story and give great advice. She has won 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.


Ernest Green

Ernest Green was born September 22, 1941 and was a part of the Little Rock Nine crisis of 1957. Green had been at Dunbar Junior High School before he volunteered to go to Little Rock Central High School. Ernest was the only person from the Little Rock nine to graduate from Little Rock Central High School. He went on to Michigan State University because he got a scholarship from the president of the University at that time. He went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s degree in sociology. He served as Assistant Secretary of Labor during Jimmy Carter's administration.


Melba Patillo

Melba Patillo was born December 7, 1941, and was a member of the Little Rock Nine. Melba had a mom who was the first African American to graduate from the University of Arkansas. She attended Haraco Mann School before going the Little Rock Central. After her junior year at Little Rock Central, she transferred to Santa Rosa, California to attend Montgomery High School where she graduated. She wrote for the newspaper at the age of 17 and attended The University of San Fransisco. After college, she got a degree in journalism and wrote two books that became bestsellers. She won the Spingarn Medal and the Congressional Gold Medal. She taught Journalism at the Dominican University of California.

Terrence Roberts

Terrence Roberts was born December 3, 1941, and was a part of the Little Rock Nine Crisis. He attended an all-black School, Horace Mann High school, before transferring as one of the first black students to attend Little Rock Central High School. He completed his high school years at Los Angeles High School after going through 3 years at Little Rock Central. Terrence continued his education at UCLA where he got a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and his Master's degree in social welfare. He was a director at many schools and then became the CEO of the management consulting firm, Terrence Roberts Consulting. 

Gloria Ray

Gloria Ray was born September 26, 1942, and was a member of the Little Rock Nine. She was the youngest of nine. She graduated from the Illinois institute of technology with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics. Gloria became a public school teacher and a research assistant for the University of Chicago Research Medical Center. She married and had two children. Gloria received the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for outstanding achievement by an African American.

Thelma Mothershed

Thelma Jean Mothershed Wair was born on November 29, 1940, in Texas. “Her father was a psychiatric aide at the Veterans Hospital, and her mother was a homemaker.” (Encyclopedia of Arkansas). She was a junior when she enrolled at Central high school. She also attended summer school during the lost year to get enough credits to graduate. Thelma was mailed her diploma. She went on to Southern Illinois University and got her Bachelor of Arts and Master of science. She married Fred Wair and had one son. She worked as a teacher in the East st. Louis's school system until she retired in 1994.

Elizabeth Ann Eckford

Elizabeth Ann Eckford was born on October 4, 1941, and had five other siblings. Her father was a dining car maintenance worker and her mother was a teacher. On September 4, 1957, Elizabeth went to Central high school alone by accident and was turned away from the school twice. She was the one in the famous little rock nine picture. She never graduated from Central high, but she did get enough credits to go onto Knox College in Illinois. She decided it was not for her and went to Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, and earned a BA in history. She then joined the army 

Carlotta Walls

Carlotta was born on December 18, 1942, and was the youngest of the Little Rock Nine group. Her father was a brick mason and WWll veteran, and her mother was a secretary in the Office of Public Housing. She was the oldest of three girls. She married Ira LaNier and had two children. On February 9, 1960, there was a bombing in her house to threaten her from going to school but she went anyways. She graduated high school and went on to Michigan State University for two years. But they had to move so she went and graduated from Colorado State College. She has worked as a real estate broker.

Jefferson Thomas

 Jefferson Thomas was born on September 19, 1942, and died on September 5, 2010. He was the youngest of SEVEN children. When he graduated from high school, he attended Wayne State University. He then relocated to Los Angeles and served as a treasurer of the NAACP. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Business Administration at Los Angeles State College. He also served as an infantryman in the Vietnam war. He married a woman named Mary. He died of pancreatic cancer in Columbus Ohio two weeks before his birthday. He is the first of the little rock nine to die.

Orval Faubus

Orval Faubus is the former Governor of Arkansas during Little Rock Nine. He is the one who sent troops to Little Rock Central High to prevent African Americans from entering the school. He went against the Brown V. Board of Education because he was frustrated with his political opponents supporting the segregationist and using it as bait to get more votes. Faubus was born on January 7, 1910. Even though his father was a pure socialist, Orval became a democrat and went on to fight against the contested seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives. He then continued to lose that fight, but he went on and argued the result. When he became Governor, he produced a lot of Racial discrimination policies. 

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