This girl's curiosity brings recognition to a forgotten civil rights leader

A couple years ago, 10-year-old Sarah Haycox was in a park in her hometown of Shoreline, Washington. She noticed a stone with a memorial plaque dedicated to a man named Edwin Pratt who had died in 1969 at the age of 38. Sarah never heard of the man, and wondered why he had a memorial and had died so young. She asked around, but no one knew.

So she did her own research. She learned that Edwin Pratt was the first black resident of Shoreline. He was the director of the Seattle Urban League and worked on school desegregation during the 1960's Civil Rights Movement. She also learned he had been assassinated on his own front porch while his wife and children were inside, just nine months after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Touched by his story, Sarah looked for a way to bring attention to the man's life and work.

Sarah started sharing what she learned with students, churches, PTAs, and community groups. About that time, she saw a new (as yet unnamed) early learning center under construction across from her own school. A plan came together.

Sarah went door to door with a campaign to name the new center after Mr. Pratt. She collected over 2000 signatures on her petition, and presented it to the school board. The board unanimously approved, and the Edwin Pratt Early Learning Center will be opened next year.

Sarah has started a GoFundMe page with three objectives: to bring Mr. Pratt's family to the building's dedication, to help with expenses for a memorial at the building, and to continue her own efforts to inspire social justice efforts.

Kids move into action when they learn of a 60 year old wrong

Reverend Gilbert and Grace Caldwell are frequent guest speakers at schools near their New Jersey home. At one such event last year, they told the fifth graders at Bear Tavern Elementary School in Titusville what happened to them on their honeymoon. 

It seems the couple was married in North Carolina, then drove eight hours north to honeymoon at Mount Airy Lodge in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Despite showing a copy of their reservation, the couple was turned away at the door. It was 1957. The couple is black. 

They spent their honeymoon at a black-owned hunting lodge. 

When the fifth graders heard the story, they were understandably horrified. Unlike dozens, possibly hundreds of others who had heard the Caldwells' story, those kids decided to do something about it.

Their research showed that the old Mount Airy Lodge closed down decades ago. A newer Mount Airy Casino Resort, no connection to the old Lodge, is now nearby. The students wrote individual letters to the current Resort's administration sharing the story of the Caldwells experience. One student's letter landed on the desk of Matthew Magda, the Resort's Vice President of Operations. Magda wrote back to the students, giving an offer the Caldwells won't refuse. A car will pick them up from their home and take them to the Resort for an all-expenses paid second honeymoon. The resort is even throwing in some casino spending money.

Of course, nothing can truly right the wrongs of decades past. But these students have had two important lessons reinforced: speaking up against injustice is powerful, and it's never too late to treat people decently.  

Unsung Heroes Project

Another site that shares great stories of personal integrity and courage is the Unsung Heroes Project. Not only does the site give story overviews, it provides resources for educators and collaborates in project-based learning opportunities for students, teachers, and parents. The project even offer cash-prize awards to students whose art communicates these untold tales to a greater audience.


Many of their featured projects, that is, stories which have been brought to the public through the arts, involve people who chose to do One Right Thing. One which struck me in its simplicity deals with the difficulties faced by the Little Rock Nine during the 1960s Civil Rights era. Those black students were the first to break the race barrier and be integrated into the all-white Little Rock School District. They had to walk through lines of jeering students and adults just to enter the school, endure untold threats and horrors in an attempt to receive an education. I'm sure they all remember those horrible days well.

And yet, even decades later, Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Nine, still remembers the names of two white students who showed her kindness during her ordeal, Ken Reinhard and Ann Williams. These two unlikely heroes didn't stand by when Elizabeth and the new students came to class. Ken repeatedly offered to walk with Elizabeth despite the verbal and phoned threats he received. Ann saw Elizabeth sitting alone in class and sat beside her, chatty and welcoming. The story of these small acts of standing up for what's right has been immortalized in this short film.