Facing History Board Member Directs “The Memphis 13”
In 1961, 13 African-American first grade students in Memphis enrolled in four all-white elementary schools. It marked the first step toward desegregating the city’s schools. Last month–nearly 50 years to the date–members of the original group were in the room to celebrate the opening of the Facing History and Ourselves traveling exhibit Choosing to Participate, on display now at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library in Memphis through Nov. 30.
The Memphis 13, as they have come to be known, are honored as part of the exhibit’s “Upstanders” installation, which recognizes powerful and heroic individuals both in the nation’s history and the local Memphis community. Also part of the “Upstanders” installation is an excerpt of a new, 45-minute documentary from Facing History Memphis advisory board member Daniel Kiel, also a professor at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. “The Memphis 13,” which is narrated by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton, Jr. and features 21 interviews from original students and their family members, premiered Oct. 3 at the National Civil Rights Museum. To see the film clip firsthand, make sure to stop by the first floor of the library.
The Memphis 13 will get another honor from Facing History this year when they are recognized at the organization’s 15th annual Memphis benefit dinner at the Peabody Hotel on Nov. 3. For more information on that event, at which members of the original group will be present, click here.
To learn more about “The Memphis 13” film and its director and Facing History board member Daniel Kiel, read "Law Professor Kiel Recounts Stories of ‘Memphis 13,’” an article in the Memphis Daily News.
To find out more about the students that desegregated Memphis schools, read “The Memphis 13: First-graders Made History 50 Years Ago Integrating Memphis Schools,” an article in Memphis’ Commercial Appeal newspaper that includes photographs of the ‘Memphis 13’ at the opening of Choosing to Participate.
In the Memphis area? Visit the Benjamin L. Hooks Public Central today and tour the Choosing to Participate exhibit. Educators and organizations can book group tours by visiting http://www.choosingtoparticipate.org/plan-your-visit-memphis.
