CA: Lessons from ’61 Remain Relevant

Commercial Appeal columnist Wendi Thomas discusses the oral history project….

Where were you when the divisive issues of public education threatened to shred your community — pitting neighbor against neighbor, black against white, fears against hope?
Did you believe then that Memphis was on the brink of doing its best for all school children? Or did you worry that the change would bring no good?
And regardless of your stance, how did you explain it to your children?
If you thought of the recent unpleasantness surrounding the effort to unify the community’s two public school systems, you’re not wrong.
But if you first thought back 50 years, to the 1961 desegregation of Memphis City Schools, Daniel Kiel wants to talk to you. Read on….