In Awe of History

What started out as a routine recruiting trip for the UAM band program, wound up being one of the best days I've ever spent. I had to travel to two Little Rock high schools yesterday to listen to several kids, interested in playing in the UAM band next fall, play a mini audition for me. My second stop would thrust me back in time, and it was an honor and a privilege to be there.

I knew my second stop of the day would be at Little Rock Central High School, but it wasn't until I drove down the street named after Daisy L. Bates that it began to dawn on me where I was about to go. You see, I had never been there before, despite how long I've lived in Arkansas, or how many times I've been to Little Rock. And then...I pulled up in front of the building. I looked over at the senior music major that accompanied me on the recruiting trip, and said, "Oh man...do you realize where we are? We're at CENTRAL High School." We both just stared at the front of the building for a while before deciding that we simply HAD to walk up those steps!

Once inside, the first thing we noticed to our right was a trophy case that enclosed plaques in honor of the nine students on whose shoulders the task of integration had been placed in 1957. After reading these for several moments, we finally made our way into the main hallway. That's where the painting commemorating this years 50th anniversary of the event caught our attention. The painting depicted two giant hands in a semi-cupped position, one hand white, the other black, with children of both races interacting within the hands. In the paintings background was the front view of Central High School. But what really made this a truly awesome painting was, in the center of it all were these ethereal figures watching the childrens' interaction. They had no faces, and were dressed in all black. Upon counting the figures, we noticed that there were nine of them; they obviously represented who we now know as The Little Rock Nine.

I finished the day by auditioning two great Central High seniors who I trust will become UAM freshmen this fall. As it was it promised to be a memorable day. As it ended up, I received a marvelous opportunity to have an experience I'll never forget.