Laverne Bell-Tolliver was the first African American student to desegregate Forest Heights Junior High School.

Dr. LaVerne Bell-Tolliver recounts path to desegregating Forest Heights Junior High School

“This is your new school.”

These were the words that echoed off the eardrums of a 12-year-old LaVerne Bell-Tolliver in the summer of 1961, while sitting in the backseat of her parents’ station wagon as they drove past Forest Heights Junior High School, one of five all-white junior high schools in Little Rock.

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UA Little Rock professor debuts oral history of desegregation in new book

Dr. LaVerne Bell-Tolliver, an associate professor of social work at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will discuss her new book, “The First Twenty-Five: An Oral History of the Desegregation of Little Rock’s Public Junior High Schools” at a book signing on Thursday, Feb. 15, at UA Little Rock. Continue reading “UA Little Rock professor debuts oral history of desegregation in new book”