May 27, 1958

Ernest Green, the oldest of the “Little Rock Nine,” became the first African-American student to graduate from Central High School in Little Rock (Pulaski County). From 1977 to 1981, he served as the Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs during the Jimmy Carter administration. In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, to the members of the Little Rock Nine. Green is the subject of a Disney movie called The Ernest Green Story, produced in 1992 and starring Morris Chestnut and Monica Calhoun.

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