Two Photographs Capture 40 Years of Progress

By David Pitts
USIA Staff Writer

The date was September 4, 1957. Eckford had tried to enter the school by herself and was surrounded by an angry mob. There were many memorable images that day, but none more so than of the photograph of Bryan yelling what she later recalled were racial epithets at Eckford.

Forty years later, on September 22, 1997, a very different photograph appeared on the front page of the Arkansas Democrat and Gazette, the state's major newspaper -- a large color picture showing Bryan and Eckford arm in arm standing outside Central High. Beside it was a small, grainy reprint of that very different photograph from four decades ago.

The two students, both 15 in 1957, now seasoned adults in their mid-fifties, were brought together again outside Central High by Will Counts, the same photographer who had captured many of the unforgettable images so long ago for The Arkansas Democrat.

Bryan had apologized to Eckford more than 30 years ago in a telephone call and Eckford had accepted her apology. But there had been no public meeting between the two women and the news media chose not to pursue the story at that time.

But late last week, Bryan appeared on the ABC television program, "Nightline," and made a very public apology saying she "felt ashamed," of her display of bigotry 40 years ago, so ashamed that for many years she kept her actions that day secret from her children and her friends.

Late last week, Counts asked the two women if they would meet and pose for a photograph outside Central High. They both agreed. Counts did not tell other journalists about the meeting yesterday "because it was such a delicate situation and I didn't want crowds of reporters around asking a lot of questions."

The two women shook hands and Bryan thanked Eckford for agreeing to the photograph, Counts reported. Eckford responded: "I think you're very brave to face the cameras again."

Little Rock was full of ugly situations during this September 40 years ago. But one click of a camera had forever changed the lives of two people -- one very afraid, young African American girl trying to go to school, and one very angry white girl displaying the prejudice endemic at the time. In an instant, their lives were brought together for all time.

Now, four decades later, Bryan seems relieved that there is another photograph of her and Eckford that contrasts with the very different image etched into the memory of a city and a nation. "I want people to see there's hope," she remarked. "We can change. We can get better."