Hero #10 Elizabeth Eckford

I saw this picture in one of my class books, and read about the story.

Just one month shy of her sixteenth birthday, Elizabeth Eckford became known across the United States as one of the "Little Rock Nine," black students who were chosen to attend the otherwise all-white Central High School. The picture, taken on September 4, 1957, shows Haley Bryan-Massery behind Eckford.

When recounting the top events of the 1997, an Arkansas newspaper printed this on January 1, 1998:

One of the fascinating stories to come out of the reunion was the apology that Hazel Bryan Massery made to Elizabeth Eckford for a terrible moment caught forever by the camera. That 40-year-old picture of hate assailing grace--which had gnawed at Ms. Massery for decades-can now be wiped clean, and replaced by a snapshot of two friends. The apology came from the real Hazel Bryan Massery, the decent woman who had been hidden all those years by a fleeting image. And the graceful acceptance of that apology was but another act of dignity in the life of Elizabeth Eckford. [Source]

That desegregation was such a painful process remains a blight on American history. Yet Eckford, through both her grace and forgiveness, reminds me that no stain need last forever.

Follow this link for a timeline of the Central High School's desegregation.