April 1, 2003

The Eisenhower Library will present the Herbert Brownell Memorial Lecture and Civil Rights Conference and Teachers workshop on April 11 and 12 in the Visitors Center at the Eisenhower Center. The event is sponsored by the Library, the Eisenhower Foundation, and the Kansas State University Institute for Military History and 20th Century American Studies.

“We have been planning and working on this program for many months and feel it will be one of the more indepth conferences we have held on the topic of Civil Rights. Carlotta Walls LaNier, one of the nine students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957, will be just one of the excellent and knowledgeable presenters that will be with us,” said Dan Holt, director of the Eisenhower Library.

Dr. Charles Sanders, Kansas State University, will present the Brownell Lecture entitled, “Two Generals, One Governor, and A Crisis: Dwight Eisenhower, Herbert Brownell, Orval Faubus, and the Little Rock School Desegregation Crisis,” in the Library auditorium at 7:15 p.m. on Friday evening. Ann Brownell Sloane, daughter of Herbert Brownell, will make introductory remarks and LaNier will comment following the Brownell Lecture. Lanier will also lecture on Saturday morning during the 8:30 session on “Reflections on Little Rock.”

Other topics and presenters are:

Dr. Lou Williams, Kansas State University - “The U.S. Constitution and Civil Rights”

Ralph Boyd, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Cilvil Rights - “Civil Rights: Then and Now”

Dr. James Leiker, Johnson County Community College - “Race and Ethnic Issues in Kansas”

Tina De La Rosa, Kansas Office of Hispanic Affairs - “The Hispanic Experience”

Brad Hamilton, Director, Kansas Office of Native American Affairs - “The Native American Experience”

Dr. Sue Zschoche, Kansas State University will be a moderator for Friday afternoon sessions and will be a presenter Saturday morning with the topic of “Civil Rights and American Culture in the 1950s.”

Dan Holt, director, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, and Dr. Jack Holl, director, Kansas State Insitute for Military History and Dr. Robert Rook, Fort Hays State University will be the moderator/commentator at the conclusion of the conference sessions.

Kim Barbieri, Eisenhower Library education specialist, and Tom Putnam, Kennedy Library education specialist, will moderate the teachers workshop sessions.

The Herbert Brownell Lecture series is funded through an endowment established at the Eisenhower Library by the Brownell family and supported through donations to the endowment. The Herbert Brownell Memorial Fund supports programs related to government, political, social, and cultural issues that were professionally and personally important to Herbert Brownell.

All sessions are free and open to the public. Friday sessions run from 10:45 a.m. to 4:30 and from 8:15 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The teachers workshop session, focusing on teaching strategies and educational resources, will continue Saturday from 12:30 - 4 p.m. Interested persons and teachers should request a registration form by calling the Library at 785-263-4751 or toll free 877- RING IKE. Cost for the optional dinner on Friday evening in the Library courtyard is $16 per person. Reservation deadline is Friday, April 4, 2003.

The Eisenhower Library is one of ten presidential libraries operaated by the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.