This Is Black History Month

Since February is Black History Month we thought we would bring out a photo from the Union’s archives and share it with you. Here, members of the Little Rock Nine meet with then New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner. These African-American students were barred from attending Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, an action which forced President Eisenhower to call in federal troops to enforce the Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education decision that banned segregated schools. The students attended the school and, a short time later, they were brought to New York by Local 6. The Union presented the students with its annual civil rights award and took them on a tour of the town, which included visits to the U.N. Coney Island, the Statue of Liberty and here, in this photo, City Hall. Several years later, another group of courageous African-American students, called the Friendship Nine, engaged in non-violent activism to end segregated lunch counters in Rock Hill, North Carolina. Peter Ward tells their story in this week’s editorial.