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Melba Pattillo is born
“First off, I was born on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941. Mother says while she was giving birth to me, there was a big uproar, with the announcement that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.” Excerpt From: Melba Pattillo Beals. “Warriors Don't Cry.” Page. 27 -
Melba is 3 years old
“By the time I was three years old, I was already so afraid of white people that when my red-haired, white-skinned cousin, Brenda, came to babysit, I hid beneath Mother’s bed.” Excerpt From: Melba Pattillo Beals. “Warriors Don't Cry.” Page. 32 -
Melba as a toddler
“As a toddler, growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1945, I felt safe only in my sepia-toned world, a cocoon of familiar people and places.” Excerpt From: Melba Pattillo Beals. “Warriors Don't Cry.” Page. 33 -
Brown VS Board court case
“HOW could I ever forget May 17, 1954, the day the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, that separate public schools for whites and blacks were illegal? The adults around me behaved so strangely that their images became a freeze-frame, forever preserved in my mind. I learned lessons on that day that I will remember for the rest of my life.” Excerpt From: Melba Pattillo Beals. “Warriors Don't Cry.” Page. 66 -
Getting asked to join school with white kids.
“When my teacher asked if anyone who lived within the Central High School district wanted to attend school with white people, I raised my hand. As I signed my name on the paper they passed around, I thought about all those times I’d gone past Central High wanting to see inside. I was certain it would take a miracle to integrate Little Rock’s schools. " Excerpt From: Melba Pattillo Beals. “Warriors Don't Cry.” Page. 79 -
NACCP tries to enroll Black children in White schools.
“In January 1956, my hopes were dashed when NAACP officials tried to register a few of our children in several white high schools in Little Rock and were turned back.” Excerpt From: Melba Pattillo Beals. “Warriors Don't Cry.” Page 81 -
Visiting the north
“For me, Cincinnati was the promised land. After a few days there, I lost that Little Rock feeling of being choked and kept in “my place” by white people. They weren’t in charge of me and my family in Cincinnati. I felt free, as though I could soar above the clouds. I was both frightened and excited when the white neighbors who lived across the street invited me for dinner. It was the first time white people had ever wanted to eat with me or talk to me about ordinary things."
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Melba is chosen to go to a white school.
“That was your father on the phone.” Mother appeared to be annoyed as she spoke. “He said to pay close attention to the news because he got a call today saying Melba’s been assigned to go to Central High with the white people.”
All ears perked up when the announcer started talking about Little Rock. He said seventeen children from my community had been selected to enter the all-white Central High School in the 1957 fall term.” Excerpt From: Melba Pattillo Beals. “Warriors Don't Cry.” Page. 87 -
Governor says soldiers will be at the school.
“Grandma thought we should listen to the governor’s speech on television. To our amazement, he announced he had sent troops to Central. And then he said, “They will not act as segregationists or integrationists, but as soldiers called to active duty to carry out their assigned tasks.”
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Grandma guards the house from segregationists
“On the night of the governor’s speech, the phone didn’t stop ringing. One caller said he knew our address and would be right over to bomb the house. Grandma went directly to her room, where she took the shotgun she called Mr. Higgenbottom from its leather case in the back of her closet. That night, she set up her guard post near the window to the side yard where she thought we were most vulnerable.” Excerpt From: Melba Pattillo Beals. “Warriors Don't Cry.” Page. 103 -
Melba tries to go to central high for the first time.
“BY Wednesday morning, September 4, I could hardly believe it was really happening—I was going to Central High School. “Hundreds of Little Rock citizens are gathered in front of Central High School awaiting the arrival of the Negro children. We’re told people have come from as far away as Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia to join forces to halt integration. Page 109 -
Press confrence at Mr. Bates house with Thurgood Marshall
“Miss Pattillo, how do you feel about going back to Central High?”
“Miss,”...
“We have a right to go to that school, and I’m certain our governor, who was elected to govern all the people, will decide to do what is just.” -
Judge Davis makes the decision to let the "Little Rock Nine" attend school on Monday.
“Come Monday morning you’ll be a genuine Central High student. How do you feel about that?” one reporter shouted his question above all others.
“Monday morning,” I whispered, “I’m gonna be a Central High student—Monday morning!”
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