Remembering Civil Rights Icon Jefferson Thomas

Jefferson A. Thomas, a civil rights icon who helped open the way for school desegregation, died Sunday, September 5, of pancreatic cancer.

Thomas was one of nine Black high school students known as the” Little Rock Nine” who were chosen by Little Rock school administrators based on their grades and records of good behavior to integrate all-White Central High School in 1957 following the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. After Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus called in the National Guard to prevent Thomas and his eight fellow Black students from entering the school, President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne Division to enforce Brown.

The Little Rock Nine endured abuse and taunts at Central.  As a result, Thomas was one of only three of the Little Rock Nine to graduate from the school; he graduated in May 1960. Afterwards he graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Los Angeles State College and worked as an accounting clerk with the U.S. Department of Defense until his retirement in 2004.

In 1999, the Little Rock Nine were awarded Congressional Gold Medals from President Bill Clinton after the 40th anniversary of their enrollment at Central. Thomas and the other Little Rock Nine received special invitations to the 2009 inauguration of President Obama, who had cited their courage in desegregating Central High School to open up educational opportunities for many previously disenfranchised individuals.

Thomas is survived by his wife, Mary Branch Thomas; a son, Jefferson Thomas Jr.; and two stepchildren, Frank Harper and Marilyn Carter.