Minnijean Brown-Trickey

Minnijean Brown-Trickey the third
Photo with Congressman Vic Snyder
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior For Workforce Diversity
In office 1999–2001
President	Bill Clinton
Personal details
Born	September 11, 1941 (1941-09-11) (age 70) Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Residence	Little Rock, Arkansas
Alma mater	Laurentian University
Occupation	Civil Rights Activist
Awards include the Congressional Gold Medal and Spingarn Medal

Minnijean Brown-Trickey (born September 11, 1941)^[1] was one of a group of African American teenagers known as the "Little Rock Nine." On September 25, 1957, under the gaze of 1,200 armed soldiers and a worldwide audience, Minnijean Brown-Trickey faced down an angry mob and helped to desegregate Central High.

She was suspended in December 1957 for dumping her bowl of chili on a white boy who blocked her way in the cafeteria, and expelled in February, for calling a girl “white trash” after the girl taunted her and hit her with a purse.^[2]

In her adult life, Brown-Trickey continues to be an activist for minority rights. She lived in Canada for a number of years in the 1980s and 1990s, getting involved in First Nations activism and studying social work at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. She has received the Congressional Gold Medal, the Wolf Award, the Spingarn Medal, and many other citations and awards.^[1] Under the Clinton administration, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior responsible for diversity.^[1][3]

A documentary film about Brown-Trickey entitled Journey to Little Rock: The Untold Story of Minnijean Brown Trickey (2002) was produced by North-East Pictures in Ottawa, where Brown-Trickey lived during the 1990s. In 2007, Laurentian also honored Trickey with an honorary doctorate of laws.^[4]

Brown-Trickey has moved back to Little Rock, and resides there with her mother and sister. Her daughter Spirit Trickey also resides in Little Rock, and is employed at Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, where she interprets her mother's, and the other eight students' struggle to enter Central.^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Minnijean Brown Trickey". Honorees. National Women's History Project. 2007. http://www.nwhp.org/whm/trickey_bio.php. Retrieved 2007-09-19. 
2. ^ Minnijean Brown Trickey, America.gov, 2007-8-24, http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2007/August/20070824131706berehellek0.2049982.html .
3. ^ Department of the Interior to Convene: Disability Rights Summit Meeting, Spring 2000, http://www.indiana.edu/~nca/access-today/00spring.shtml#Department%20of%20the%20Interior%20to%20Convene%20Disability%20Rights%20Summit%20Meeting .
4. ^ The Sudbury Star (Ontario, CA), http://www.thesudburystar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=552088&catname=Local+News&classif= ^{[dead link]}.
5. ^ "History Lessons", Arkansas Times, http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleViewer.aspx?ArticleID=544e27b8-ad7b-46ca-80be-35bb274bcfa4 .

External links

• Minnijean Brown-Trickey speaker profile at The Lavin Agency

Persondata
Name	Brown-Trickey, Minnijean
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 11, 1941
Place of birth	Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Date of death
Place of death