Arkansas and don't fly FRONTIER

We drove to Little Rock Arkansas this morning and went to the visitors center near Little Rock Central High School. 

 I thought this study was very revealing:

Little Rock Central was the high school where, in 1957, 9 black students wanted to enroll in an all-white high school. Their first day they were met by the state police, who were not there to help them but to keep them out. They returned the next day and the next. Finally, federal troops were called in and escorted them into school. The bravery of these 9 is so unbelievable to me. And the hatred and abuse that they received from the mobs of whites outside the school was frightening to watch in the videos!!

This is the restored gas station which served as the press center during the conflict at the high school.

I did actually see some armadillos while on this trip. They were road kill - but still I'd never seen one before!!

After our visit to the high school we drove to the Bill and Hilary Clinton airport for our flight home. When we checked in at the Frontier desk we were told that our flight was about 3 hours behind schedule, which meant we would miss our connecting flight in Denver, to Salt Lake. -- did I mention, don't fly Frontier? The 2 poor women at the desk spent the next couple of hours trying to find everyone new connecting flights. Much of that time they couldn't get the computers to work. We eventually were given a flight for the following morning. They told us that when we arrived in Denver we would be given vouchers for a hotel and food. 

Finally, at about 5:00 pm we were on our way to Denver. You know how at take-off and landing, they tell you to put your seats in the upright position? Well, Frontiers seats don't move. But, they still tell you to put them back in the upright position! Yea, don't fly Frontier. When we showed up at the Frontier desk in Denver, for our vouchers, they didn't know what we were talking about. So, we spent another 30-40 minutes waiting for them to figure it out and print us out some vouchers. We grabbed some dinner, called for the hotel shuttle and went out to the curb to wait. When the shuttle arrived, there was one passenger who was wheelchair bound and the shuttle didn't have a lift. Frontier was supposed to have given her a voucher for a taxi, with a lift, to take her to the hotel. So, she had to go back to the desk and try again. I don't know WHEN she finally got to the hotel. Oh, and the desk clerk at the hotel told us that Frontier kept sending people to the hotel after the hotel told them they were full. We arrived at around 8:30 pm and left again the following morning at 6:00 am. Did I mention - don't fly Frontier?

Fortunately, our flight to Salt Lake was on time and uneventful! We called our good neighbors, the Howards, and asked them if they could pick us up at the Orem Trax station to bring us home. Thank you to them! Other than the flights to and from this adventure, a great time was had by all! Thanks to those of you who have been faithful readers - I hope you enjoyed it.

P.S. Don't fly Frontier :)

Kermit, Emmett and Martin

Today was a Sunday so we went to church in Greenville, Mississippi. The bishop there told us that driving 65 mph, it would take him 2 hours to drive across his ward boundaries. We in Utah are SO spoiled!!!
Our next stop was in Leland, Mississippi. "What's in Leland?", you say.

 A VERY important place:

Our next stops were not so cheery! We went to Money, Mississippi, which is where the Emmett Till story takes place. If you know the story, you can scroll on. Emmett Till was from Chicago and went to Money to visit cousins. He and his cousin went into town one day to the local Bryant's Grocery Store:

This is what it looks like now:

Here is the rest of the story:

We also went to the river site, where his body was found. The first sign, giving directions, was full of bullet holes:

The sign indicating the spot where his body was found was gone:

Remember that the 2 men were tried and acquitted, but later sold their story to Look magazine so everyone knew the truth.

Here is the court house where that

so-called trial took place: 

Sorry - this day is a rough one. We drove on to Memphis from here and went to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. The Lorraine Motel is where Martin Luther King was murdered.

The balcony where he was shot:

Inside the museum -- me sitting in front of Rosa Parks:

Sitting at a "whites only" lunch counter:

Following the tour from room to room you end up here--

The motel room where Martin Luther King was staying:

This is the window where the sniper was. You can see it from the window of MLK's motel room:

Then we walked across the street to the other part of the museum that includes the room where the sniper was. 

Rather a sobering day today.

Rain, Civil Rights and Civil War

We drove for 3 hours today to Jackson, Mississippi. It was so green and beautiful but about half-way through the drive we heard a severe weather warning on the radio and the sky got very ominous, with dense, fast-moving dark green clouds. The radio listed all the places where the storm was going to hit, but we had no idea where they were in relation to us. I was really stressed driving and at one point I just pulled off and tried to wait it out. We couldn't wait that long however. White knuckle driving is not my first choice. We did make it to Jackson in one piece and ran through the rain to the Two Mississippi Museums. In one end of the building was the Mississippi Civil Rights museum and in the other was the Museum of Mississippi History. The first was quite emotionally moving. There were spots where you would walk and suddenly the area would light up and someone would be shouting at you as though you were black. They had many signs with lists of lynchings by year. They also had signs explaining what happened in certain years after the Civil War had ended. If you don't want to read them, just scroll by. :)

1866: The Civil Rights Act is passed, Tennessee forms the Klu Klux Klan, race riots break out in several places in the south.

1870: The 15th amendment passes, giving all citizens the right to vote.

The history museum taught us a lot about the dispossession of Native Americans and about the cotton industry that made slavery so profitable. I only took one picture here that has nothing to do with what I just said ;)

After lunch we drove to Vicksburg. A massive important battle of the Civil War took place there, so the city is surrounded by a national battlefield park. It is so sobering to think of how many lives were lost in this horrible war!

We ended our day in Delhi, Louisiana. So, I can say I have been to Louisiana!

Montgomery and Selma, Alabama

Montgomery is where the southern states got together to establish the Confederate States of America and where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as the first president. There is a star on the steps of the statehouse to mark the spot where he stood when he was sworn in.

This is the First White House of the Confederacy:

This was Mrs. Davis' bedroom. I took this
picture mainly for the dress:

These are some of Jefferson Davis' things:

A spill holder. A spill is a twist of paper

used for lighting candles, pipes and fires:

We walked a couple of blocks to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. We had this wonderful effusive lady who loved us all and sang to us. At the end of the tour she had us and the other couple that was there with us all hold hands and sing "We Shall Overcome." She was wonderful - and I didn't take a picture of her!! :(

This is a mural on the wall in the basement of the church:

There is a baptismal font under the floor here:

We drove onto Selma. When the Selma-to-Montgomery march took place, they had to camp along the way because it was a 50 mile walk.

This march was for the right to vote. We did stop at a visitors' center there and the rangers gave us a sample of the literacy tests that the blacks had to pass in order to register to vote. Here is one question from the Louisiana State literacy test:
"Divide a vertical line in two equal parts by bisecting it with a curved horizontal line that is only straight at its spot bisection of the vertical." On this test there were 30 similar questions and they had 10 minutes to answer them all. Here is a question from the Alabama Literacy test: "Appropriation  of money for the armed services can be only for a period limited to ____ years." There were 68 questions just like this one and they were given 30 minutes to answer them. Could you?

When we arrived in Selma, we walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. No one beat us, or trampled us with horses, or threw tear gas canisters at us. 

A ranger at the visitor's center here directed us to a local history museum. It was actually a lot of fun - full of all kinds of local history. 

The Old Depot Museum:

Voting booth:

A clock maker's bench:

These bow, arrows, and quiver were made by Geronimo while he was imprisoned at Mt. Vernon, Alabama:

The proprietor at the museum recommended the Golden Ranch Barbecue for dinner, which is where we ate. I ordered fish with potatoes and gravy. They put gravy on the fish as well. Let's just say it was a cultural experience!