HOXIE, Ark. (AP) - About 200 people gathered in the Hoxie High School gym to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the school district's integration.
Several of the black students who helped integrate the district also returned to the school for Saturday's event.
Known as the Hoxie 21, the students went to their new schools on July 11, 1955. The integration was peaceful at first, but two weeks later, white supremacists from out of town protested the move.
The struggle to integrate continued in 1957 as federal troops were called to help integrate Little Rock Central High School.
Don Jean Barksdale was one of the Hoxie 21 and attended the celebration. She recalled an incident during integration when shots were fired into her family's home while she and her three sisters were in bed.
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
