Ecford, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Eckford ( born Elizabeth Eckford , born October 4, 1941 ) is one of nine black students from Little Rock School in Arkansas .

Elizabeth Ecford
Elizabeth Ekford tries to go to Little Rock School on September 4, 1957. In the background is a screaming crowd of white people and soldiers of the National Guard.
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
A country
Awards and prizes	US Congress Gold Medal spingarn medal

Following a decision by the US Supreme Court in 1954 in the Brown v. Board of Education case, which ruled the segregation of children in schools unlawful, authorities resisted him in several states. On the day the classes began, the Governor of Orval Fobus , who, on the eve of the election, wanted to enlist the support of supporters of segregation, ordered that the school be surrounded by National Guard troops.

On September 4, the day class began, Elizabeth and several black children tried to go to school, where they were met by armed soldiers who raised their bayonets. The gathered crowd of whites began to intimidate children, shouting threats and insults. Ekford recalled the day she came to school:

I went to school and came across a guard who was letting white students in ... When I tried to squeeze past him, he raised his bayonet, then the other guards did the same ... They looked at me so hostilely that I was very scared and didn’t know what to do. I turned around and saw a crowd advancing from behind me ... Someone shouted “ Lynch her! Lynching her! ”I tried to find with my eyes at least one friendly face in the crowd, at least someone who could help me. I looked at an elderly woman, and her face seemed kind to me, but when our eyes met again, she spat on me ... Someone shouted “Drag her to the tree! Gotta tackle a nigga! ” [1] [2] [3]

In 1958, Elizabeth Ecford moved to St. Louis , Missouri , where she studied history. In the 1960s, she returned to Little Rock. Elizabeth Ekford worked as a bank clerk, then as a journalist and war correspondent, then as a probation officer (monitoring the behavior of probationers).

In 1996, Ekford, along with other students from the Little Rock Nine, appeared on the television program Oprah Winfrey .

In 2003, her son was shot dead by a policeman after firing and refused to disarm.