Ernest Green: Civil Rights

In 1957, nine black teenagers walked through the doors of Little Rock Central High School for the first time. Ernest Green was the eldest of the Little Rock Nine and the first to graduate. Green went on to serve in the Labor Department of the Carter administration and to a career in business, electoral politics, and economic development. In 1999, he and other members of the Nine received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest national honor bestowed to civilians. His son, Adam Green, is a professor of history at the University of Chicago, a frequent contributor to the New York Times, WBEZ, and WTTW, and an advisor to many film, book, and museum projects. Join father and son for a discussion about the promises, the disappointments, and the enduring achievements of the civil rights movement in the United States.

Ernest G. Green is the eldest of the Little Rock Nine. Since his entry into the national spotlight in 1957, Green has served in a number of high-profile positions in both the private and public sphere, all the while speaking from his own experience about our nation's ongoing struggle for civil rights. He is the subject of "The Ernest Green Story," produced and distributed by the Walt Disney Corporation.