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.