Our drive through nature let us see the World Wonder of the Natural Bridge, bit of sandstone deep in a valley outside Clinton (yes, it seems like every state has a town named "Clinton", I'm surprised there's only one in Arkansas). They also had a replica whiskey still, guarded by a fierce looking gentleman. At $15 for the three of us, that may have been the most expensive, measured by the minute, tourist trap we've ever been to. The guy who worked there was nice, though, made some barbecue recommendations for Memphis (tomorrow's destination).
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| Not exactly sure why they built this bridge... |
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| Old Jeb, still guarding his still from the Revenue Men |
When we got into Little Rock, we really knew we were in the South because it was hotter than hell!
like 97 degrees today, in June - Texas next week is going to be a blast...furnace, I'm sure. Our first stop in the city was, you guessed it, the state capitol building. For the first time, there was no construction going on! A very nice building, thought they could use some gold leaf or something on the dome.
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| no scaffolding in sight |
Next was Little Rock Central High School, a National Historic Site. It commemorates the conflict (understatement) over the attempted integration of the school by 9 black students in September 1957, three years after Brown v Board of Education. We've all seen the photos of soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division escorting the Little Rock Nine through a crowd of literally bloodthirsty white folks. The museum across the street from the high school (which is still active today) has a very powerful exhibit about the 1) events that led up to and of September 1957, including video interviews of the Little Rock Nine, and 2) descriptions of other actions, both protest and positive, in the fight over civil rights for minorities.
The exhibit was not as shocking as the Brown v Board site (see yesterday's post here), but is very emotionally evocative. This crisis was one of the first times people throughout the US, even the world, could watch the personal battles over racial discrimination in real time with the television coverage of the day. They say that 100 million people watched President Eisenhower's address on September 24, 1957. Part of the site is a preserved Mobil gas station, restored to how it looked in 1957. It's directly across the street from the high school, and because it had a pay phone it was an important meeting place and was the main connection the throngs of media had to their varied headquarters in the pre-cell phone era.
Little Rock Central HS itself is a very imposing building. At the front, around the reflecting pool, are nine marble benches, each inscribed with the name of one of the Little Rock Nine.
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| One of the benches |
This trip has been unexpectedly educational so far, as the two sites we've seen so far, in Topeka and Little Rock, have really driven home personal stories of the fight for civil rights. Hopefully we will find more as we continue on our journey.
Tomorrow morning we are off to the Clinton Library, then quick drive (for us) to Memphis. Talk to you later!
