where yet more state troopers confronted them. Hansen, Stoller and the others, were pushed back up the stairs. Hansen was hit over the head with a riot stick along the way. More state troopers joined the melee at the top of the stairs. The students pulled a prone Hansen out of the scrimmage, into the hallway, and then outside into the rain. There, they made a pallet for him, covered him with their coats, and formed a cordon around him joining hands and singing “We Shall Overcome.” Around 15 helmeted state troopers with riot sticks, together with a State Police captain and lieutenant holding electric cattle prods, and a number of city policemen, stood under the portico nearby observing the scene. A bystander drummed up a chorus of “Dixie” in response to the students’ rendition of “We Shall Overcome.” Others yelled football chants and called the Hogs in an attempt to drown the students out. Five minutes later, Hansen was whisked away to Arkansas Baptist Hospital. Reportedly, State Police Director Col. Herman E. Lindsey thought his “troopers had handled the situation well.” Later that day, at 4 p.m., around 200 black and white marchers made up of SNCC volunteers and college and high school students arrived at the Capitol singing “We Shall Overcome.” They waved placards reading, “Is This America or Russia?”, “We Didn’t Have Enough Blood in ’57?” and “Alabama Sunday, Arkansas Today.” The Capitol doors were locked to prevent the students gaining entry. After singing more songs the marchers knelt in the rain at the foot of the Capitol steps and prayed. At 4:15 p.m., with the marchers still kneeling in prayer, around 30 state troopers walked up the Capitol steps in front of them and stood defiantly in the doorway. A handful of people, mostly FBI agents and newsmen, looked on. After 10 minutes, the state troopers left. Five minutes later, the students left too, vowing to return again the following day. The next day at 1 p.m., 15 students arrived in cars. Jim Jones, Arkansas SNCC project director; Rev. Ben Grinage, Pine Bluff SNCC project director, and Anthony Hines, a Philander Smith student, led the group double file through the south entrance and down the stairway to the Capitol Club. Guard Jack Morgan told them they could not enter without membership cards. Jones, Grinage and Hines debated with Morgan for 15 minutes, demanding to know under what law he was forbidding them entry. Tiring of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
MUSIC LESSONS
now – March 16
In this side-splitting comic romp about marriage, career-driven Suzannah Hayden needs a lot more help on the home front than she’s getting from her husband, Gibby.
Guitar • Bass • Piano • Voice • Drums • Banjo Professional & Degreed Instructors Monthly Jam Sessions & Workshops
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Colonel Glenn & University • murrysdinnerplayhouse.com • 562-3131
Clinton Presidential Center Celebrates Black History Month Free Admission Day Monday, February 18 • 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
In honor of President’s Day, admission and audio tours narrated by President Clinton are free throughout the day.
Jazzing Things Up: Creating America’s Gift to Music* General Public: Thursday, February 21, 2013 · 7 p.m. School Groups: Thursday and Friday, February 21 - 22, 2013 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. & 11 a.m. – Noon
Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School presents “Jazzing Things Up,” a program that tells the story of the African-American influence on jazz and how the genre has influenced musical development throughout the world.
Arkansas Black Hall Of Fame Distinguished Laureate Series* General Public: Wednesday, February 27 • 6:00 p.m. School Groups: Wednesday, February 27 • 9:30 a.m.
The Clinton Foundation and the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame presents the 2013 Distinguished Laureate Series featuring world renowned physicist Dr. Oliver Keith Baker. Dr. Baker, a native Arkansan, is at the forefront of nanotechnology and is pioneering research that found Higgs boson, a subatomic particle considered so significant to the understanding of the universe that it has been called the “God particle.”
*Programs are free. However, reservations are required. Call 501-748-0419 to make reservations.
1200 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock, AR 72201 • www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org • 501-748-0419
www.arktimes.com
FEBRUARY 14, 2013
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