Back in Little Rock

We did make it out of Tennessee undetected, and arrived nearby.

This time we stayed in the Little Rock area, specifically, N. Little Rock. The campground was located between two bridges.

The city is also called the "City of Six Bridges" because there are six bridges crossing the Arkansas river. You are looking at the bridges from the back of our site.

I was pleasantly surprised at how level the concrete pad was:

ALMOST PERFECTLY LEVEL

I was happy enough that I didn't even try to come to complete level.

This walking bridge was an active train tressel until the mid-1960's. It was first built in 1896 to haul freight and passengers, but the 1960's it was barely hauling freight, so it was no longer used. In 2011, after many hours, dollars and volunteers, it was dedicated by President and Mrs. Clinton as a walking bridge.

The traffic noise was loud certain times of the day, but the overall location was good for visiting attractions in Little Rock and N. Little Rock. They were currently working on/around/near the vehicle bridge.

Our first night in town found us looking for food because we failed to take anything out of the freezer. That was a positive x2 for us, we located a brewing company nearby, and a ballpark. The food was so-so, too much black pepper on the ribs. The ballpark was only a few blocks away, and the home team was playing, I'd like to believe just because we arrived in town... but I know better.

We were fortunate to arrive the night they were handing out bobble-heads to the first 1,000 fans, and we were two of those 1,000 fans. 

PRE-GAME: TEAMS WARMING UP

LINE UP FOR EACH TEAM

PLAY BALL

LITTLE ROCK TRAVELER'S MASCOT

ON THEIR WAY TO PLAYOFFS

FIREWORKS AFTER EVERY WIN

After the win we enjoyed the fireworks, as well as most of the neighbors in N. Little Rock.

The next morning I decided to walk the bridge to see if Carol could handle the walk... no problem. 

LOOKING EAST AND WEST

THE PARK HAD ITS OWN ACCESS TO THE BRIDGE

You may have noticed the silver building, we will visit it later. 

Its later, Carol and I were on the journey to that silver building. That building was the Clinton Library and Museum. Before we go inside, lets address his time after his terms in office. President Clinton was very active in the Little Rock area. Often he could be found teaching at the Clinton School of Public Service, at the University of Arkansas.

The schoolhouse is near the library/museum. Visit: https://clintonschool.uasys.edu.

Lets get back to the museum. The museum is filled with documents from his terms in office, memorabilia, and gifts from many people and countries; we chose to walk the 1 1/2 hour guided tour, which was very informative above what visitors could read and see.

The starting point for visitors was the limo that he rode in during his stay in the White House.

1993 CADILLAC FLEETWOOD

Only three of these vehicles were built by skilled GM craftsmen. This was the president's daily use vehicle. The protection systems for the vehicle were developed by the Secret Service. The roof was raised for better visibility, the rear area seated six people, three facing forward and three facing backward, the front seat could seat three people, it had state of the art communications, and a powered tempered window separating front seat from the back seat.

Up the stairs lead to the main portion of the library and museum. Once visitors climbed the stairs, they rode an escalator to the main area. It was recommended to visitors that they start in the theatre with an introductory video on William "Bill" Clinton. 

For those going on the guided tour, we met together and were picked up by our guide. 

The first alcove we walked through was memorabilia President Clinton received from Willie Mays, "The Say Hey Kid".

Willie and Bill were good friends. It was the way Willie led his life that made an impact on many children, including President Clinton. For those that do not know, Willie Mays passed away in June of this year. The following was the comment President Clinton made at Mays' memorial service: "Willie Mays gave me the chance to realize what real greatness is. And its a curious combination of intelligence, dedication, the will to win and a fundamental humility to believe that the effort is the prize - a gift he leaves us all with and that I hope we can all share and cherish for the rest of our lives."

Leaving the memorabilia alcove visitors are ushered into a replica of the meeting room that cabinet members met with the president. If a person were to have paid close attention to any photos of the president meeting with his cabinet members, they may have noticed that the president always sat with his back to French doors. those French doors were where he and Hilary walked out of to address the masses. The other item that an observant person may have seen, with a magnifying glass, is that the back of the president's chair is two inches higher than all the other chairs at the table.

There is a little history that goes with the oval table in that room, though a reproduction as well, the original is still in Washington D.C. When Nixon inherited the office, the table was a rectangular table. The problem he had was hearing some of the cabinet members, so he ordered an oval table to solve the problem.

From that office we walked to the great room. 

As I said a minute ago (I type slow), the library contains documents from his time in office, but only 20%.

JUST SOME OF THE COLLECTION

Why would they only have 20%, because over 80,000 pieces of paper were generated during his terms, and only the non-sensitive can be eyed. All the supporting pillars contained these document holders. You may have noticed the shiny cover on the lower shelves, they are there because earlier visitors attempted to walk off with some of the documents, others were brazen enough to try and walk out with the whole documents holder.

In the room visitors will find nooks that exhibit areas of his accomplishments in job opportunities, health, education, and even the impeachment process; which he was found innocent of the charges.

Down the middle of the hall visitors found timelines for his two terms.

To understand the timelines one must understand what the  President was out to do. In 1991 his gave three speeches at Georgetown University on his vision while in the White House. He called his philosophy the "New Covenant". As he put it, that road map was going to provide a "Third Way" between the old dead ends. Those three speeches pertained to "Building One America", "Restoring the Economy", and "Building One World".

When visitors look at the timelines they see three lines, which represent his three visions for America. The timeline shown here was for 1994.

- ONE WORLD: Israel and Jordan sign historic peace treaty; Democracy restored in Haiti.

- ONE AMERICA: Goals for 2000 Education Standards enacted; Crime Bill signed.

- THE ECOMOMY: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

This was how he functioned throughout his two terms. If you look at the first timeline photo, notice the binders at the bottom right, these contain the daily events that the president was doing, whether it be church, golf, jogging, or meetings, they were logged. It was said that he was the most traveling of presidents, and reviewing the timelines, I believed it.

Seeing as how he grew up wanting to help people, it was no surprise that he spent many hours, and many days trying to resolve differences between disputing factions. 

Partially because of his Irish heritage he helped to resolve the troubles between Ireland and England, but it wasn't an easy road. It was important to get one of the parties involved who could help broker a ceasefire. The British Prime Minister disliked this person so much, she had his voice banned on all British news casts. President Clinton knew the way to get the man involved was by getting him to speak to Irish-Americans. Some of our government officials were against giving him a visa to visit the U.S.. After a year of denying his visa, it was finally approved, and the gentleman spoke before Irish-American politicians at the Waldorf-Astoria. That visa effort made the difference, and an agreement was achieved between the fighting factions. If you are interested, go to: https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/exhibits/show/northern-ireland/getting-involved.

For his efforts he was given the gift of a chess set.

Pieces are all the people, Irish and British, involved in the resolution for peace.

Some of you know that Clinton enjoyed playing the saxophone, and in the museum collection there are several on display.

In the White House he had others as well.

Holidays were an event in themselves at the White House. Apparently when Easter came, eggs were hidden throughout the outside compound, and there were even special eggs on display, presidents and their wives.

The wives are on the opposite side of the egg, and we suggested they put a mirror under the stand so that the wives can be seen too. Some of the other eggs on display:

Christmas was a big deal as well. One year Hilary asked children to send their Christmas wishes to the White House so that they could be hung on the tree. They received thousands, and every one of them was hung on the tree.

They also have on exhibit a piece of one of the crystal tree from the inaugural ball.

On the left is just the top of the tree, the right shows the Clinton family standing in front of the 11 foot tree, the top was only about 5 feet.

There was much to see, and well worth the time on the guided tour, but there was one more place to visit before the tour ended, and that was a replica of his Oval Office.

I am not going to go into detail about his office, except to point out one unusual item, the Presidential Seal.

How many of you have thought about the president seal? If you notice, the eagle is holding an olive branch in one claw, and arrows in the other. The olive branch represents peace, and the arrows represent war. Now look at which way the eagle has its head turned. Presidents have always sought after peace, but sometimes it comes through strife.

There is only one place in the White House that you will find the eagle faces towards war... the Resolute Desk, which the president is usually working from in the Oval Office.

Courtesy of Treehouse

Some of you may be more familiar with a photo from the Kennedy era:

Courtesy of the BBC

How 'bout some history on the desk. Back in the 1800's the British had a ship named "HMS Resolute". It was part of an Artic expedition in search for a fellow Englishmen that was trying to find the Northwest Passage. They had to abandon the ship when it got stuck in the ice. The ship wasn't recovered until 1855, by and American whaler. Congress found funding to refit it and send it back to England as a "friendship gift". The HMS Resolute was decommissioned, and Queen Victoria had the desk made to affirm the friendship. Rutherford B. Hayes was the first to use the desk. The desk is made from oak and mahogany timbers of the Resolute.

It is believed that the presidential seal panel was made during the Roosevelt administration to hide the fact that he had suffered from polo. Roosevelt was a firm believer in showing the public a strong president. 

Back to the panel. 

Notice which way the eagle is facing toward.

Most of the future presidents used the desk, with the exception of five or six. One president only used the desk for five months before changing it out; he wanted a bigger work surface.

I showed you the two Kennedy children playing at the desk, there were others, caught on camera too.

"SARCASM SERVED FRESH DAILY"

LISTENING TO A JOKE: PUNCH LINE WAS... CONGRESS

That was the end of our walk through the library/museum, like I said, well worth it.

Another day we took a short drive to visit "The Old Mill".

You movie lovers out there may recognize this mill... it was in the opening scene of "Gone with the Wind". This was a nice little park that lovers of the mill take care of. The mill is actually on a lake, rather than a river, and there are homes all around it.

The mill is a reconstruction of the real mill, but what was surprising was all the wood structures... they're not wood, they're concrete.

BRIDGE FRAME MADE FROM IRON SALVAGED 

FROM A SHIP

VIEW FROM UPPER FLOOR OF MILL

WATERFALL THAT SUPPLIES WATER TO THE MILL

In the day of the mill there was no indoor facilities, however, there was an outhouse.

You better be able to hold it, it was a distance from the mill.

Besides the mill, there was a small botanical garden, with the usual plants for the region. The one that caught our eye was:

TURK'S CAP

After the walk through the Old Mill we headed over to the Old State House on the Little Rock side of the river.

Once we found parking, we strolled to the Old State House and realized we had visited it once before during a previous stop in the area. We still went in to see if there was any new exhibits, and sure 'nough, there was.

OLD STATE HOUSE

The front didn't look any different than last visit. The change was an exhibit on the second floor.

Part of the exhibit was music related to bands that played in Little Rock area over the years. Get ready, off we went.

The exhibit even showed two sides to George Jones, (Most of the country fans know him).

TOP: LATER YEARS, BOTTOM: EARLY DAYS

The exhibit covered all genre of music, I just took pictures of the groups I liked. 

At one time I listened to Jethro Tull (an English band), but I never realized where he got the inspiration for the song "Thick As a Brick". The song came about because of a prize winning poem written by an eight-year boy in England. The boy won the contest, but was later disqualified. You see, the poem was read on a BBC program and it generated a lot of negative outcries. 

Why was he denied his prize? A hastily raised panel of judges was convened, and they accepted the decision of four psychiatrists, who said the work was a product of an "extremely unwholesome attitude towards life, his God and country". His reward... recommended for immediate psychiatric treatment.

The second portion of the exhibit was the work of a photographer that photographed many famous musicians. Art Maripol started out at the University of Arkansas, majoring in journalism. While photographing live music on campus, he found a love for photography. After graduating, he spent his first 13 years as a news photojournalist by day, nights were spent in arenas and night clubs photographing musicians.

He changed jobs, and for the next 24 years he was spending quite a bit of his time traveling for Southern Living Magazine. All this time traveling did not afford him the opportunity to enjoy the arenas, night clubs, and stadiums.

In the last few years Art cracked open his box of old negatives that hadn't been seen in almost three decades. What you are about to see is just a part of his work, and the stories behind each photo.

TINA TURNER

This photo was taken in 1985 on her "Private Dancer" tour when she appeared at the Barton Coliseum, in Little Rock. Art had a particular picture in his mind, he basically had only one opportunity to get it. The long telephoto lens he was using wouldn't work where he normally stood, which was in the "pit", he was given 10 minutes of the show to get all the pictures he could before the pit was opened up. He caught what he was looking for, Tina looking down the lens, meaning she was looking right at her audience.

B.B. KING

STATEHOUSE CONVENTION CENTER, 1986

This was an accidental creation. Art had photographed him several times, and was not happy with what he captured. He was leaving via a side door, looked back to the stage, and there it was B.B. King silhouetted by a spotlight. He did have several later opportunities to photograph him again.

STEVIE RAY VAUGHN

OAK MOUNTAIN AMPHITHEATRE, AL, 1990

This photo was taken only a few months before Stevie Ray died. Art had and opportunity to photograph him in 1983 when he was playing at a run-down venue in Little Rock. Back to 1990, Stevie Ray is opening for "The Call" band in this photo. Art was so close he could have reached out and stummed Stevie Ray's guitar.

If you would like to see more of his work, go to: artmaripol.com.

Since we are in Arkansas I am going to continue focusing on the Clinton's. For those that do not know, or remember, he was governor of Arkansas for three terms. He was defeated after his first term, as he would put it, for not listening to others. With the four-year break, he ran for office again and won, staying for a third term.

A lot of what he did as president was no different than when he was governor.

I guess this was one of the pleasures that never left, he always went for morning jogs as governor, and president.

As for Hilary, she enjoyed three inaugurations. This was her first inauguration gown.

 

The museum has 28 of 47 First Ladies of Arkansas inauguration gowns, mostly from 1901 to present. Not all the ladies wanted to volunteer the gown. The mannequins are the exact measurements as the First Lady. The gowns are rotated due stress on the fabric because of lighting, temperature, and just plane hanging. 

Many have asked the question: how many governors have lived in the State House, the answer: none. The State House was a place for conducting official state government business.

Our next stop was the Arkansas History Museum. Deja-vu, we were here before as well. We still went into see what was new, but we didn't walk the out buildings.

The biggest changes are the exhibits. The theme behind this exhibition period was "Art in the Time of Chaos". The exhibits are usually local artists, no different, just different artists. There art work is generally for sale, most of it doesn't fit in the trailer.

CENTER: FROG SINGS/BUDDHA CRIES

BOTTOM: SITTING BUDDHA

TOP RIGHT: IMMIGRANTS SONG

(Wood-Fired Stoneware)

TOP MIDDLE:FROG AND SALAMANDER COVERED JAR

BOTTOM LEFT: DOUBLE TREE FROG COVERED JAR

BOTTOM RIGHT: DOUBLE FROG COVERED JAR

(Wood-Fired Stoneware)

THE ROAD TO OZ

(Encaustic with cloth and string)

ENTOMBMENT VASE

WALKING STICK

(Found wood, paper mâché, thread, cloth)

BESPOKE TAILOR

(Wood, cloth, thread, fabric, glue, aluminum)

A CRONE'S ODYSSEY

(Polyester-filled fabric, thread, wood)

RED RIVER DREAMING

(Stoneware. glaze)

THAT SURVIVAL APPARATUS

(Mixed media)

This one takes a bit of explaining. The artist used books and pictures that related to the struggle for civil rights. The books are cut out in the center and a picture is added.

FISH LADY OF TOADSUCK HOLLOW

(Wood block print with India ink washes)

This inked drawing reminded me of when we first visited Little Rock. Oh, how did it remind me... Toadsuck. We stayed at a Corp of Engineering campground in Toadsuck, about 30 miles away.

Across the street from the museum: 

TAKE A BREAK, WE ARE GOING TO LUNCH.

After lunch we decided to walk to the H.U. Lee Memorial Garden. So off we went... in the wrong direction. It was easy not paying attention to our direction, the downtown area is filled with building art like this one:

"ALL THE THINGS TO DO IN LITTLE ROCK"

If that wasn't enough, how about resting places:

TULIP SEATING

It only took us a few more blocks to figure out we went the wrong way, and turned around we did. Now that we were finally heading in the right direction, I could smell success, or was it...

... must have been the donuts, but we were getting closer. 

Yea!, we made it to the garden.

What draws visitors to the garden initially is the entrance gate: 

The garden itself is not that special, except for the monuments in it.

You might be asking who is H.U. Lee. He is the founder of Songahm Taekwondo. He chose to make Little Rock his international headquarters for the family of Songahm Taekwondo.

STATUES WELCOMING VISITORS

GRAND MASTER H.U. LEE

Grand Master Lee's vision was "changing the world one Black Belt at a time". The vision wall behind him was all the founding members and instructors. The was wall was made out of black granite, weighing in at 11 tons.

FOUNDING MEMBERS

NINE TURTLES

This was a replica of a wooden carving that resides in the Grand Master's office. Why a turtle... it represents longevity. H.U. Lee liked the statue of a mother and babies because it signified strength and unity in the family. This stone statue came in at a ton.

"STAFF OF THE FLYIING DRAGON". The staff document the progress of the Grand Master. At the bottom of the staff are the ancient warriors that practiced the arts, the carvings up the staff represented milestones achieved, and the top final engraving was the day and date that H.U. Lee earned the title of "Grand Master". First, one needs to understand that the dragon is a major part of the Korean philosophy and culture for many centuries. There was a story behind the flying dragon, and it went like this: All dragons grow and develop at the bottom of a special lake. When one dragon has achieved far above the others, he is given a special pearl symbolizing that he can now fly from the depths of the lake into the world above. He is given power over the elements, and is sent on a mission to bring peace to man. There is only one of these dragons alive at any given time.

It is said that the special dragon fashioned a staff in which his power and leadership rests. Upon the dubbing of the first Grand Master, the dragon passed the staff to the Grand Master symbolizing the unity between the two, with the desire to spread taekwondo throughout the world in an effort to bring peace to all mankind.

"HARUBANGS". These statues are special to Cheju' Island in S. Korea. The Harubang originally stood outside the Cheju' Town Fortress as guardian deities. They are made from either basalt, or lava rock. The Harubangs can be seen throughout the island, and are considered the second most important cultural asset by the S. Korean government. They not allowed to leave the island, with the exception of the two in this garden, which were donated by the Governor of Cheju' Island.

The funny thought about visiting this garden, we were only about four blocks away from it after leaving the Arkansas History Museum. Our four blocks turned into about a mile and a half by the time we got there.

The downtown area uses an electric trolley system, which meant tracks of course. During our walk an unfortunate cyclist took a spill in the road when he hit the tracks at the wrong angle... no he did not get run over by any cars, and managed to walk away. This occurred as we were leaving the garden, we were across the street.

Time to head back to the truck parked at the Arkansas History Museum, and back home. It was a great day out.

IF YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER... WRONG, I'M LONG WINDED ON THIS POST.

I bet you thought we were done with the civil rights movement, but that wasn't true. Little Rock was the hot bed for desegregation in 1957. The governor said it wasn't going to happen, the president said it was... and it did.

Where did it begin... Little Rock Central High School, and nine negro students that volunteered to attend the school.

The nine black students were ushered up those steps by U.S. military soldiers. The soldiers could only walk into the school, they had to stay out of the classrooms and lunchroom, and auditorium.

LOOKING FROM THE MAIN ENTRANCE

Because the high school is an active school, visitors can only walk the grounds and walk up the steps to the main entrance. Around the reflection pond are nine benches representing the nine brave students that fought for the opportunity for equal education. The school is a national monument within the National Park Service. Lets go back across the street to the museum now.

Our Constitution written in 1787 did not mean all people were considered equal, it wasn't until 1808 that Congress prohibited importing slaves. Article 1, section 9 states: 

SECTION 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

One needs to keep in mind that in the era when the constitution was written, it was the belief that the rich should be the governing power. I could digress on this subject, but I won't for now... I can't do it.

CLASS IS IN SESSION:

Before the Constitution was ratified, it started as the Lee Resolution that was introduced in 1776, then the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1787, but not ratified until 1789, and called The Constitution of the United States.

State governments were in place before the federal government ever existed. The states had a lot of power in the Articles of Confederation, but some of that power needed to be surrendered to form a stronger federal government. You now see why it took two years to ratify the new "Constitution of the United States".

The states still retained some of their governing powers as seen in the 10th Amendment:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

The Naturalization Act of 1790 declared that persons needed to be a reside in the United States for two years... oh yeh, and be a free white person.

In lies the root of civil rights from the very beginning.

Another issue was who could vote. Originally it was only the white male that owned land and could afford to pay taxes. That meant that the ordinary white male could not vote. Extending the opportunity to the other white males didn't occur until after an economic crisis in 1819. As late as 1830 saw only white males voting, and that was only in 10 of the states, 8 only allowed tax payers to vote, and 6 maintained a property requirement.

In 1789 married women had less rights than single, or widowed. Of course one of the restrictions was voting. During that era, it was the husband that had control over most of the aspects the the wife's life. Single women and widows could at least own land in their name and enter into contracts to support themselves... "so they wouldn't be a burden to society". White women finally did get the right to vote in 1920, thanks to the 19th Amendment.

When the Constitution was written, Indians were not considered citizens of the United States, even though they were here first. It wasn't until the Indian Citizenship Act (1924) that Natives American Indians got the right to vote, in national elections.

The Constitution did not distinguish between "free" and "slave" blacks. A young Black man sued for his freedom. In 1857 the Supreme Court came down with the decision that even though he lived in a "free state" he had no standing in the federal courts because of being enslaved or a descendant of slaves... because they were not considered U.S. citizens.

Here is the kicker. Per the Constitution, an enslaved person fell into to the category of "other", and was counted as 3/5th of a person when counting people to determine how many representatives would represent a state. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 did little to change their status, except to make them free in the Confederate states. the 13th Amendment abolished slavery on a national level:

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

One last thought regarding how our Constitution allowed slavery without the word "slave" in it. Remember when I mentioned Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution. While Congress did prohibit importing slavery in 1808, the government did benefit from slavery importation prior to 1808... there was a tax for each slave imported.

Article 4, Section 2, paragraph 3:

"No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due."

This Article became a bone of contention closer to the Civil War , when the Northern sympathizer didn't make any efforts to return slaves to their owners.

CLASS DISMISSED.

I have already spoke of the Civil Rights movement in an earlier post, so I am going to try and stay on track with the story of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.

The nine African-American students that volunteered to attend the all-white school were but a portion of the original volunteers. Many of the other volunteers backed out when they learned they would not be able to fully participate in school activities such as band, student government, sports, or choir.

Remember that the Supreme Court handed down their ruling a few years earlier: "separate but equal".

SEPARATE... BUT NOT EQUAL

These were the two new high schools Little Rock was building in 1955, Horace Mann on the left, Little Rock Central (LRCHS) on the right.

Back to why these nine students decided to go to LRCHS vice Horace Mann. Even though they had great relationships with their teachers and lots of friends, they knew there was a broader education at the "white" school, which would better prepare them for college.

I liked the fire that some of the African-American students had. When asked why she went, her response was: 

Carlotta Walls:

"Our parents were paying taxes just like the white parents, but we were still getting the short end of the stick."

Gloria Ray's comment:

"I knew about Central High. It was one of the two-hundred best schools in the United States. Not that the teachers were any better... but they had more funds, more facilities, and more resources."

Melba Pattillo said:

"When I was at Mann, every year we'd get this stuff shipped in from Central High and other white schools. There would be three-legged tables, typewriters with keys missing, and smeary books. And we were supposed to be grateful for this stuff?"

This is only my opinion of the Governor of Arkansas, Orval Eugene Faubus... he was a jerk, I'm keeping it nice. 

The night before the integration, he called up the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the students from entering the school; his reasoning... to prevent any violence.

The Mayor, Woodrow Mann, no relation to Horace Mann, was a man about change, taking on corruption in the city government, integrating the city transportation, and doubling African-American police officers to the force, that went from two officer to four officers. The point was that he wanted to see change. Unfortunately the city voted to go to a "city management" style government, reducing his powers as mayor.

Eisenhower had pledged in his campaign to end discrimination, and that is what he did when he entered office. He desegregated D.C. transportation, addressed discrimination in federal hiring by hiring an African-American man on his staff, and established an office of civil rights in the White House.

So, how did he address the Governor's attitude... he sent in the 101st Airborne to protect the student, and the Federal Government's authority to uphold the Constitution.

Because of groups like this...

SEGREGATIONIST MOTHERS' LEAGUE

... The African-American students didn't go to school the first day. The second day wasn't much better...

ARKANSAS NATIONAL GUARD

... The guardsmen denied them access to the school. 

Because of the ongoing threats of violence, the students stayed home on day five, September 5th, and would stay home for the following two weeks.

Here was President Eisenhower's response to a telegram from Governor Faubus:

The two met in Rhode Island, where the president was hoping to come to some resolution. After the meeting Eisenhower believed that Faubus would "observe the supreme law of the land", and obey the court order. Faubus came back home and did just the opposite.

The following days between September 20th and 24th saw a changing of the guard, violence, and changing of the guard again. Before the National Guard left, they were federalized by President Eisenhower.

ARKANSAS NATIONAL HEAD HOME

VIOLENCE BEGINS

When the National Guard left, Little Rock police were were now responsible for protecting the students. When a crowd learned that the students had gotten in the school, the crowd grew to over a 1,000 people, and the violence began. The police had to sneak the students out a basement exit.

FEDERAL TROOPS MOBILIZED

The 101st Airborne were now responsible for the students. Eisenhower was hoping that states would obey federal law as given by the Constitution, but that was not to be.

When the students were finally escorted into the school by the 101st, the media stuck cameras and microphones in the student's faces trying to get interviews. The mob outside the school started beating on bystanders with bats and bricks.

It was really disturbing to see into the minds of some of the segregationists:

These cards were given to the white students. The top allowing whites to hurt the African-American students, the second pertains to a white teacher who was also the assistant principle and girls counselor, and the last pertained to the fact that one of the African-American students who was expelled for defending herself in the lunchroom.

By October 10th, the 101st returned home, and were replaced by the "federalized" National Guard. The nine endured a lot during the school year, with the segregationist whites calling them names, kicking them, tripping them, and offering up other violent insults. Bomb threat and fire drills became a routine event.

I did like the attitude of Ernest Greene, the first African-American to graduate from LRCHS.

"The harder they fought to keep me out, the more determined I was to finish and get my diploma." 

They encouraged him not to work for fear of violence, but his courage was greater than theirs, he walked and received his diploma.

GRADUATION DAY

Remember I thought Governor Faubus was a jerk...

"THE LOST YEAR"

(The federal didn't order it.)

Faubus was not about to have integration, and closed all four high schools for the 1958-1959 school year. He accomplished that thanks to a newly-passed state law that was passed that gave him authority to close down any school "being integrated by force". In a referendum, 3/4s of the Little Rock residents voted to support Faubus' decision.

During that same year, the segregationist school board attempted to fire all the teachers and administrators suspected of supporting desegregation. In a special election the voters removed the segregationist board members, this paved the way for the school board to reopen the schools and continue desegregation.

What I found interesting between the last two paragraphs, there must have been a significant event to happen to get a good share of the 3/4s of the residents to vote out the segregationists on the school board. Miracles can happen.

AMERICA CARES

The artist, Georg Hunts depicted the Little Rock Nine flanked by a soldier on the left, symbolizing the defense of every citizen's rights, and an adult supporter on the right, representing leadership. This painting was commissioned to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the events at Central High. For several years it hung in the White House during Clinton's time in office. In 2005, it was made into a postage stamp.

Later the Little Rock Nine would receive a gold medal for courage from Congress.

Visit the website at: https: //www.nps.gov/chsc.

ITS COFFEE BREAK TIME, BUT WE ARE ALMOST HOME.

Here we go into the home stretch.

On our walk from the Clinton Library and Museum I thought I saw a submarine near the park... sure 'nough, it was moored a short distance from the park. 

One day I was out getting gas in preps for departure, and I stopped in to see if it was open, seeing as how it was the weekend... yep, it was open. I called Carol to see if she would like to tour the boat, she declined, and off I went.

The museum is actually a two-for-one deal, the submarine, and a yard tug. The submarine is a guided tour, the tug visitors can do on their own.

This is not part of a submarine, but it brought back memories of all the equipment my job was responsible for on the helm, and that would have been everything but the helm wheel.

You would notice that the submarine flies two flags, U.S., and Turkey. When the U.S. Navy was done with the submarine, it was sold it to the Turkish Navy in the 1970's, and they sailed it until 2000, making it the longest commissioned submarine. The boat was commissioned in 1944 by the U.S., and decommissioned by the Turks in 2000, giving her almost 60 years in service. The submarine was slated to be scrapped in 2002, and an alumni sailor heard about it and got funds up to buy it back from Turkey, and get it back home.

This boat is not set up for tours like many of the others we visited, and yes, Carol would have had an issue with the ladders in and out of the submarine, they were vertical, I almost had issues with them.

Anyway, we started the tour in the aft torpedo room, and as usual, this is also one of the berthing spaces for the crew.

From the torpedo room we passed old switching gear and into the galley/crew mess.

OLDY SWITCH GEAR

GALLEY

The mess only seated about 15 sailors, so there was no time to really socializing when it came to feeding a hundred-man crew; it was kind of like boot camp, wolf it down and move on.

The sailor in the photograph was their cook, and still is their cook. Whenever the old crew reunites, he cooks up the dinner.

If you have never been on a submarine you probably have no idea how they store all their staples... easy, anywhere it will fit.

You are looking at a grate in the deck (floor) that has access to the refrigerated staples. One joy the submariners had that is not an option... an ice cream maker. This day the ice cream machine was replaced with a refrigerator.

A little further down the p-way we passed by the admin office, wardroom and mini-galley, and officer staterooms, with the next stop being navigation.

UP TO THE CONNING TOWER

IN THE DRIVER SEATS

Unlike the newer boats, the steering was on one side of the submarine. This boat had enlisted berthing, two engine rooms, and a forward torpedo room, which was our exiting point. 

You may have heard the term hot-racking, which was common on submarines. What it means is one guy climbs out of the rack so another can climb in. Anybody getting the heebie-jeebies about that. If you haven't yet, let's continue on. The old days of submarines had limited fresh water making abilities at a 1,000 gallons a day from salt water. No problem, right... wrong when you consider what required water. The engines were water cooled, and water was needed for cooking. With these water demands, it meant that showers were rare, almost to the point of only one shower per person during the entire cruise. Now, you ready to climb in that rack? Got the heebie-jeebies now?

After I left the submarine I headed over to the tug.

USS HOGA, YT-146

(Sioux word meaning "fish")

This tug saw duty in Pearl Harbor, and was a major factor in events on the day of 9 December.

The tug was moored with the other tugs near the shipyard when the bombing began. Within 10 minutes of the first strike the Hoga was given orders to help in any way possible.

Her first job was pulling a repair ship, the USS Vestal, AR-4 away from the Arizona, BB-39, which was ingulfed in flames. From the Vestal, they headed over to help a minelayer, USS Oglala, CM-4, flagship for Rear Admiral Furlong. While helping the Oglala the USS Nevada, BB-36, having sustained a torpedo hit and was able to counterflood so she didn't capsize, passed them steaming for open sea.

With the Nevada heading for open water, the Japanese saw an opportunity to achieve two goals, sink a battleship, and close the channel, so they concentrated their efforts on her. Sustaining many hits and sinking, she attempted to get out of the channel. Rear Admiral Furlong saw the Nevada severally heave and directed the two tugs assisting his ship to go help the Nevada.

The Hoga tied to the bow of the Nevada, and she, and the second tug pulled the sinking Nevada to Hospital Point, out of the channel. The Hoga continued to fight forward fires on the ship for over an hour.

Returning back to Battleship Row she fought fires on the Arizona from 1600 (4pm) Sunday to 1300 (1pm) Tuesday.

After the attack the Hoga gained other duties like watching for possible Japanese submarines in the harbor, cleaning debris from the harbor, and salvage operations. Later the tug was redesignated to a YTB (large). In 1948 the Hoga was transferred on loan to the Port of Oakland for use as a fireboat.

I climbed back in the truck and drove the entire 3/10th of a mile back to the park. Yes, I did continue to get ready to travel, so we'll see you later.

MISC. EVENING PHOTOS OF THE NIGHT LIGHTS.

WALKING BRIDGE AT NIGHT

CITY BRIDGES LIT