calsfoundation@cals.org
January 7, 2007
Roosevelt L. Thompson of Little Rock (Pulaski County) was one of the most promising public servants in Arkansas in the last half of the twentieth century. Roosevelt, a star athlete and academic performer, decided at an early age to pursue a career in public service. Upon graduation from Little Rock Central High, he attended Yale University, where he attained a long list of honors including becoming a Rhodes Scholar. On a return trip from Little Rock in 1984, Thompson’s car was struck by an out-of-control truck on the New Jersey Turnpike, killing him instantly. Among the many posthumous honors given him was the naming of a new branch of the Central Arkansas Library System in his honor.