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Civil rights icon delivering Knox College’s convocation

Knox is kicking off their school year Wednesday and for their annual opening convocation a icon of the Civil Rights movement will speak and receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters.

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Elizabeth Eckford will deliver Knox’s opening convocation  at 11 a.m. outside on the south lawn of Knox’s Old Main.

Eckford was one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of black students who enrolled in an all-white Central High School in Little Rock, in the face of a segregationist mob and the Arkansas National Guard, officially desegregating the school district.

In fact Eckford was the first of the nine in the school and the image of Eckford calmly walking through a shouting mob, with tinted glasses and a book in her hand won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize.

After high school, Eckford attended Knox for a year before returning to Little Rock, earning a Bachelor’s in history and then served in the U.S. Army for five years.

She retired as a probation officer in 2009 after serving in the role for 10 years.

A release from Knox says that Eckford is being honored for her “courage and leadership” at a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights.

The event is free and open to the public, however seating is limited and there will be overflow seating with a video feed in the nearby Kresge Recital Hall.

Also Eckford will present “Individual Voices Matter: Civil Rights Icon Elizabeth Eckford’s Struggle for Equality and Acceptance” at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Galesburg Orpheum Theatre.

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