NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — If you live anywhere in Arkansas, you’ve almost certainly heard of the Little Rock Nine— but what about the North Little Rock Six?
While their story isn’t nearly as well-known, an event held on Friday morning may have begun to change that.
The six students who attempted to integrate North Little Rock High School in 1957 will now have an entire school named after them in the district.
Of the six men who walked up those steps on September 9, 1957, three are still alive, and all were in attendance on Friday at Seventh Street Elementary School as its name was changed to the North Little Rock 6 Academy of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences.
“It was kind of frightening to see all the students saying, ‘We can't come in, we can't get in,” said Harold Smith, one of the six, as he reflected.
Gerald Persons was another one of the group who said a mob of white students and parents wouldn’t let them enter— even when they were escorted by the superintendent.
"The superintendent made this statement to us,” Persons said. “That it didn't look like integration was going to happen at this time.”
So the six students left and went to Scipio A. Jones High. Which at the time, was the home for black students in the North Little Rock School District (NLRSD).
According to a video played at the event on Friday, it didn’t particularly bother group member Richard Lindsey. He explained how he had wanted to go to Jones anyway.
Over time, this story has mostly been lost to history, unlike that of the Little Rock Nine.
“There's nothing that currently existed in the city,” said Dr. Gregory Pilewski, the NLRSD Superintendent. “Nor in the school district, that paid any kind of homage to these six gentlemen, and what they overcame.”
That’s why he said when it came time to change the name of Seventh Street Elementary (after that portion of Seventh Street became Bishop Lindsey Avenue), the board agreed that the North Little Rock 6 Academy of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences was the only choice.
Friday’s ceremony emphasized the contrast between the environment that the six walked into in 1957, versus the environment in the NLRSD now.
“The City of North Little Rock gave us a welcoming dinner,” Persons said. “Things have improved so much now that I wouldn't mind living here. Things have really changed.”
"I'm glad that this day has come and we've made it thus far,” Smith added. “And I think we will go on further as we trust in God.”
As far as the second part of the school’s new name, “Academy of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences." Pilewski said it’s part of a district-wide plan.
He said that they want different schools to have certain themes through which they look at all subjects.
At this particular school, students will have the chance to meet with experts in the field of agriculture and veterinary medicine, be exposed to certain careers early on, and have more hands-on learning experiences.
The NLRSD also plans to add grade levels to the academy, starting with sixth grade and eventually going up to eighth.