Beyond Central, Toward Acceptance: A Collection of Oral Histories from Students of Little Rock Central High

The Memory Project started as a one-time assignment for ninth graders in the Class of 2007 at Little Rock Central High School to prepare for the 50th anniversary of Central’s historic desegregation in 1957. But the stories they heard and the lessons they learned wouldn’t let the project stop. Next came a website (www.lrchmemory.org), and now comes this book of stories the students think others should know. Beyond Central, Toward Acceptance recounts the lessons the students learned from a generation’s struggle to fulfill the national promise of civil rights, salutes those who became agents of change, and exemplifies what high school students can contribute to the history of their community and the nation.