On the 60th anniversary of nine black students integrating Little Rock Central High School with the support of the National Guard, I find myself reflecting on an encounter I had with a true hero of the civil rights movement. A quiet gentleman who lived among us in Central Ohio in preferred anonymity, but displayed as much courage amid adversity as any man I have ever had the privilege of meeting. A man who unknowingly shaped American history and made equal education and the achievement that comes with education possible for me and many others in my generation. After spending precious minutes with this gentleman, I left with a profound sense of responsibility as I rest on the shoulders of giants on which I and many others stand. I fondly recall a few moments with Mr. Jefferson Thomas.
In February 2009, while still in my tenure as principal of Pickerington High School Central, I was invited by neighboring junior high principal, Chuck Byers, to view a Black History Month project being conducted by some of his students. Mr. Byers knew that I enjoyed coming to programs at Ridgeview Junior High to show support for the future Central Tiger students. The project was held in the Media Center and featured several well-done reenactments by students dressed in-character of several key figures in the civil rights movement. Mr. Byers shared that Jefferson Thomas, who had a relative participating in the project, was in attendance and offered to introduce me.
Most people have no idea who Jefferson Thomas is, or of his historical significance. However, those who know even a little about the history of the civil rights movement in America recognize the moniker "Little Rock 9."
One of the most significant moments that kick-started the legal reformation of the civil rights movement was the historic Brown vs. Topeka, Kansas Board of Education in 1954. That case, led by future first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, reversed the "Separate but Equal" doctrine from the Plessy vs. Ferguson case more than 50 years earlier. It was easily provable that schools for black children and white children were not only separate but far from equal. In a decision that in 1954 could be considered courageous, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that even if physical conditions were equal, the learning experience would still be unequal in a forced segregated condition. That decision set off a firestorm not only in the rural South but in many American cities over the next several decades. That storm blew into Columbus in 1973 with Penick vs. The Columbus Public Schools Board of Education federal discrimination lawsuit. Columbus along with many urban school districts attempted to or were forced to comply with the Brown ruling and desegregate their schools. The first major test of this case was in Little Rock, Arkansas where nine students from the all-black Horace Mann High School, were selected to attend the all-white Central High School in 1957. One of those students was sophomore Jefferson Thomas.
When Principal Byers took me to meet the smartly dressed Jefferson Thomas, he was seated with members of his family in the Media Center. The soft-spoken gentleman cordially shook my hand as we were introduced. I remember thinking immediately that I did not recognize him, however, the only images I had seen of him were as a 15-year-old student in the documented footage of the Little Rock 9 from the award-winning Eyes On The Prize series. At this stage of his life, he was well into his 60's. Before our hands parted, Mr. Byers noted that I was the principal of Pickerington Central. It's difficult to explain that moment, but Mr. Thomas struggled mightily to conceal his surprise from that information. His eyes opened wide and focused intently on me as he smiled, regripped my hand and shook it vigorously. I cannot pretend to speak for Mr. Thomas, but I got a notion that he felt a sense of accomplishment. Not specifically about me personally, but for all who may have reached a level of achievement, in part, because of what he endured.
He immediately introduced me to his family and engagingly sat with me for over 45 minutes. The first question I remember asking him wasn't necessarily about his own experience, but that of his parents. I shared with him that as a father of three, there was no way I could let my children be subject to the dangers that he and his classmates faced daily. He said that on the first day of school, September 4, 1957, they were famously barred from entering Central High School by armed members of the National Guard that were called up that day by the governor to deny their entrance. The troops would move aside to let white students enter the school, but would stand with bayonets crossed when they tried to enter. Classmate Elizabeth Eckford somehow did not get the message that the group was to meet at NAACP member Daisy Bates' home to go to school together. Eckford was famously etched into history as the young lady who was filmed walking alone to school only to find herself quickly surrounded by an angry mob that swore at her, shouted racial slurs and spat on her as she sat frightened at the bus stop. With my own daughters in mind, my gut wrenches just thinking of one of them in that position. After realizing that they were not going to be admitted to the school, the group shuffled back into the waiting cars to head back home. When he arrived home, Mr. Thomas said that his mother burst through the door in tears and embraced him nearly to the point of suffocation. When he asked what was going on, they were shown the television as the scene of the mob outside of Central was being replayed. He recalled that he had no idea of the magnitude of the mob around them because the media surrounded them in such a way which actually shielded them from the scene. We laughed as I said that would have been the last day for my child!
I asked him how was he chosen to attend Central, and most importantly why did he want to go? The teenagers had no intention of being civil rights pioneers or aspirations of doing something great; they were just kids who wanted to go to a good school. He also said that he thought far more than nine would be attending Central and that he might not have volunteered had he known there would have been so few going with him. Mr. Thomas shared that initially, there were over 100 students slated to go to Horace Mann who volunteered to go to Central. That number, however, fell quickly as many of the families of the volunteers began receiving harassing calls, death threats, and were even being fired from their jobs. The number, he said, shrank to about 25 when they were forced to sign an agreement that said they would not be permitted to retaliate in any way whatsoever on a white student that may disparage them verbally or physically. In addition, they were not permitted to participate in any extracurricular activities: no dances, clubs or sports. As a result, the final number of "acceptable" volunteers dwindled to nine.
He shared with me what his day-to-day experience was like. After weeks of being banned from attending school at Central, President Eisenhower ordered them admitted and instead of using the National Guard to prevent their entrance, they were ordered to protect them. On September 25, 1957, the nine students integrated Central High School. Each student had a National Guardsman escort them everywhere in the school. After a short while, though, the individual escorts ceased. The students would regularly hear remarks and threats in the hallways, restrooms, and in the lunchroom. He said that inside the classroom was the most normal for him. He went on that he had little issues in his classes and developed decent relationships with some white students and some of his teachers, who he noted were surprised at his level of intelligence.
Thurgood Marshall was their attorney and met with them regularly to ensure that the school was treating them fairly. He said that Martin Luther King spoke to them to offer encouragement to complete their struggle and let them know the importance of what they were doing. At that time, Martin Luther King wasn't yet the civil rights and American icon he would come to be, but an up and coming southern preacher who recently led a successful bus boycott in Alabama. Mr. Thomas chuckled quietly when he reminisced about wondering why Dr. King would want to talk with them because they weren't boycotting anything.
He talked about his experience on the Oprah Winfrey Show when on January 15, 1996, she celebrated the Little Rock 9 and reunited them on air with a few of their white classmates. He recalled the entire event as very emotional. Mr. Thomas remembered that many of the former white students that were invited to attend the show still harbored their racial prejudice and refused to participate. He went on to describe that during the show, a few of the students asked them for forgiveness and apologized profusely, but some could not. Off the air backstage, one former student, in particular, apologized profusely to him, but explained that he could not do so on-air because "I still have to go back to Little Rock after this." Wow.
I asked him if he ever tired of being recognized for something he did as a teenager or talking about his experience as a member of the Little Rock 9. He said absolutely not, and in fact, he watched and read everything he came by regarding the group to make sure the information was accurately portrayed.
After that 1957-58 school year, the Little Rock Board of Education voted to cancel school the next year instead of continuing with their desegregation plan and temporarily shut the four Little Rock high schools down. Mr. Thomas went on to join the military after high school and faced heavy combat in Viet Nam. His post-war work with defense agencies brought him to settle in Columbus, Ohio.
I humbly thanked him for the time he spent with me as I could have listened all day to the stories of his experiences. When I walked out of the Media Center at Ridgeview Junior High School into the hallway, I noticed dozens of posters displayed on the walls of historic people and moments of the civil rights movement to commemorate Black History Month. The first to catch my eye? The poster of the Little Rock 9. Sadly, Mr. Thomas was the first member of the group to pass away in September 2010. I've never been to Little Rock, Arkansas, but if I ever do, I will be sure to visit their memorial outside of Central High School and reflect once again on my time with this quiet hero.
