Ernest Green, one of nine African-American students who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957, will offer the keynote address for 2014 Black History Month events at Arkansas Tech University on Tuesday. Green’s lecture is schedule for 7 p.m. in the Witherspoon Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the Arkansas Tech Office of Student Services, the Arkansas Tech College of Arts and Humanities and the Arkansas Tech Department of History and Political Science with support from the Arkansas Tech African-American Student Association and Omega Psi Phi, Arkansas Tech chapter. Admission to the lecture will be free and open to Arkansas Tech students. Members of the general public wishing to attend may obtain complimentary tickets at the Doc Bryan Student Services Center information booth weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. A limited number of tickets for the public are available. A recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal, Green graduated from Little Rock Central High School and went on to earn a baccalaureate degree in social science and a master’s degree in sociology from Michigan State University. Green joined Lehman Brothers in 1987 and serves as managing director of public finance for the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. He previously served as president for consulting firm Ernest Green and Associates and as assistant secretary of labor for employment and training during the administration of President Jimmy Carter. Green and his fellow members of the Little Rock Nine received the NAACP Spingarn Medal in 1958. Numerous books, movies and documentaries have been produced concerning the Little Rock Nine, including the Peabody Award-winning 1993 film “The Ernest Green Story,” which was produced and distributed by the Walt Disney Corporation. For more information about 2014 Black History Month events at Arkansas Tech, call (479) 968-0239.
