Melba Pattillo

(http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=52734)

Melba Pattillo was born December 7, 1941 in Little Rock, Arkansas. When she was seven, her parents got a divorce. After the divorce, she was raised by her mother and grandmother. Her mother was an English teacher, so she grew up with a smart family. She went to an all black school; she liked it, but she still wanted to go to a white school for a better education. When she was twelve, a law was passed saying that segregated schools were no longer allowed. One year later, Melba signed up to go to Central High School in Little Rock.

When Melba Pattillo was thirteen she was accepted to go to Central High. She did not get to go to the school for two years. On her first day of school, she and her mother, were driving to the school, very scared. When they got to the school they found a lot of protesters. None of the white people wanted integration. The governor did not agree with integration either. He brought out soldiers with guns to the school. When they tried to run away, people chased after them but they made it home OK. The Governor still did not want Integration, so he brought it to court, but the judges said they had to keep integration. Melba Pattillo finally had her first day at Central High.

On her first day at Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, she had to enter the school through the back doors. Police escorted Melba and the eight other African-American students. Protesters still want to kill the Little Rock nine. They made it through half the day without anyone trying to hurt them, but then the protesters broke through the doors to come and get Melba and the others. They had to go to the basement then leave, hiding in the back of a car. She has almost been killed three times because of the protesters at Central High. Finally the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, talked to the Little Rock Governor about it. The President sent down soldiers to protect the Little Rock Nine. Melba actually got to have a real start at Central High.

Melba’s real first day at Central High was September 25, 1957. She was escorted by soldiers into the school. Soldiers were all over the school, Danny was Melba’s main escort. Everyday Melba was called names, like ugly. She was also hurt every day, people spit on her, kicked her, and tripped her. People also threw eggs and dynamite sticks at her. People tried to hurt the Little Rock Nine really bad, one time Melba got acid thrown in her face. As time went by the soldiers left Melba and Little Rock nine by themselves at Central High. Melba was still hurt every day, sometimes even worse than before. Melba did have one friend, Link, but they had to keep it a secret, or else they would both get hurt. Then Melba Pattillo realized why she really wanted to go to Central High now.

Melba realized she wanted to keep going to Central High, because she wanted to fight for African-American freedom. She wanted to change the ways her race had to go through things, like school. She stayed strong and went to the school, for the sake of her race. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. met with the Little Rock Nine, and told them that they were fighting for generations not yet born. Melba Pattillo was only sixteen and she was a fighter for African-American freedom. On May 27, 1958, eight of the nine students are left. One student, Ernie Green, was the first African-American to graduate from Central High. The governor still hated integration, so he shut down all of the Little Rock high schools. Melba was worried she would not graduate. She was also worried she would die, because the KKK said they would pay $10,000 to anyone who killed Melba. Melba went to California to live with a white foster family and to graduate high school. Melba then went on to college and graduated, she became a reporter for NBC-TV. That was just the start of Melba’s new life.

Melba Pattillo went to Columbia University and got her Masters Degree in Journalism. She has written two books, Warriors don’t Cry, and White is a State of Mind. She says she wrote them based off of some of her old diaries from when she was growing up. While in college Melba met John Beals, they later got married. They have one daughter, Kelli, and adopted twin boys, Matthew and Evan. In 1958 Melba and the others from the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Spingarn Medal. Now Melba lives in San Francisco and teaches at the Dominican University of California. In 2009 Melba got her Doctoral Degree in Education at the University of San Francisco. Melba was and still is an inspiration to many people.