For the children who walk the halls of Bruce, Gordon, Rozelle and
Springdale elementary schools, few know they follow in the footsteps of
13 of the smallest pioneers of Memphis civil rights history.
On Oct. 3, 1961, 13 African-American first-graders entered these four
schools as the first students to desegregate Memphis City Schools.
Today, historical markers will be placed at the four schools
commemorating the steps of these children and the courage of their
families to enroll them.
It is an important acknowledgment of these contributions to our community.
Unlike school desegregation in Little Rock four years earlier, the
event in Memphis was orderly and did not make national headlines.
Perhaps as a result, the Memphis 13 do not hold the same place in the
national consciousness as do the Little Rock Nine. The Memphis 13 have
not been honored at the White House or appeared with Oprah; rather, they
have been recognized periodically, but have lived in relative anonymity
in our community.
View the full article here....
Showing posts with label The Memphis 13. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Memphis 13. Show all posts
October 02, 2015
September 17, 2014
Director Daniel Kiel Shares Lessons of the Memphis 13
Director Daniel Kiel Shares Lessons from the Memphis 13 from Daniel Kiel on Vimeo.
At a program marking the opening of a new exhibit at the Ned McWherter Library at the University of Memphis, law professor Daniel Kiel shares lessons learned from The Memphis 13, the first students to desegregate Memphis schools as first graders in 1961.
At a program marking the opening of a new exhibit at the Ned McWherter Library at the University of Memphis, law professor Daniel Kiel shares lessons learned from The Memphis 13, the first students to desegregate Memphis schools as first graders in 1961.
February 16, 2014
Lessons from the Memphis 13
Lessons from the Memphis 13: What 13 First Graders Have to Teach About Law, Life, and the Legacy of Brown
Abstract: Fifty years after desegregating schools in Memphis as first graders, the pioneering students shared their stories for the first time. The resulting film, The Memphis 13 (2011), brought a largely overlooked episode in the civil rights movement into the broader movement narrative. In this essay, the film’s director – who also happens to be a law professor – combines a first-person account of the intellectual journey involved in meeting the pioneering students and their families with a scholarly analysis of the implications of the students’ stories. Specifically, the essay describes the intense isolation the students experienced both during their experience desegregating schools and in the decades that followed and questions the responsibility that lawyers and movement leaders have to foot soldiers who are participating in a social movement through no choice of their own. Looking back, the students took widely divergent lessons from their experience, demonstrating the complexity of crafting a meaningful remedy even for individuals in the post-Brown era. The essay thus utilizes these personal narratives to critique the choices made during the desegregation effort. This real world testimony provides a fresh perspective on longstanding debates that too often discount the experiences of those most directly affected.
This article appeared in the Thurgood Marshall Law Review of Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law. The full article is available here.
Abstract: Fifty years after desegregating schools in Memphis as first graders, the pioneering students shared their stories for the first time. The resulting film, The Memphis 13 (2011), brought a largely overlooked episode in the civil rights movement into the broader movement narrative. In this essay, the film’s director – who also happens to be a law professor – combines a first-person account of the intellectual journey involved in meeting the pioneering students and their families with a scholarly analysis of the implications of the students’ stories. Specifically, the essay describes the intense isolation the students experienced both during their experience desegregating schools and in the decades that followed and questions the responsibility that lawyers and movement leaders have to foot soldiers who are participating in a social movement through no choice of their own. Looking back, the students took widely divergent lessons from their experience, demonstrating the complexity of crafting a meaningful remedy even for individuals in the post-Brown era. The essay thus utilizes these personal narratives to critique the choices made during the desegregation effort. This real world testimony provides a fresh perspective on longstanding debates that too often discount the experiences of those most directly affected.
This article appeared in the Thurgood Marshall Law Review of Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law. The full article is available here.
February 17, 2012
A Conversation With....
Daniel Kiel is a professor at the The University of Memphis' Cecil
C. Humphreys School of Law. Pierre Kimsey sits down with Daniel to talk
about his latest documentary film project, The Memphis 13, a look at the
desegregation of Memphis City Schools fifty years ago, featuring
interviews with all 13 pioneering families and other key individuals.
May 24, 2011
C-SPAN: Memphis School Desegregation at 50
Memphis School Desegregation at 50
University of Memphis Law school professor Daniel Kiel has spent years
collecting stories of the original desegregation of the Memphis City
Schools in October 1961. His work takes a look at the history of
desegregation and its legacy fifty years later. He presented video clips
from oral histories of people who were part of the first desegregated
class, when two separate communities combined as one. He talked about
the lessons that apply as the community moves toward unifying the city
schools of Memphis with the Shelby County school systems. Professor Kiel
talked with Ms. Peiser and offered a long-view look at public education
in Memphis and Shelby County.
“Memphis School Desegregation at 50” was a program of the Downtown Neighborhood Association’s conversation series. It was held at the University of Memphis law school.
Video available here...
“Memphis School Desegregation at 50” was a program of the Downtown Neighborhood Association’s conversation series. It was held at the University of Memphis law school.
Video available here...
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