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(Hoxie, Ark.) – July marks 60 years since Hoxie Schools voluntarily integrated their classes, and a celebration of the “Hoxie 21†is set for Saturday, July 11. The drop-in event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Hoxie High School gymnasium, with a ceremony scheduled for 12 p.m.
The ceremony will include recognition of the Hoxie 21 students who are able to attend, a video address from Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and a special proclamation by the Hoxie School Board.
Photos and memorabilia will be on display throughout the day, and the documentary “Hoxie: The First Stand†will be shown. Interviews will also be conducted for a future documentary.
Hoxie closed its black school and moved those students to the main campus in 1955, making it one of the first schools in Arkansas to desegregate. The African-American students who integrated the school came to be known as the Hoxie 21.
Despite opposition, particularly from outside groups, the Hoxie superintendent and school board remained unanimous in their support of integration, and the school district was never segregated again.
A group of Hoxie 21 alumni and local leaders are currently developing plans for a museum and education center commemorating the integration, possibly including a reconstruction of the Hoxie Colored School, as the facility was known.
More information on the planned museum will be available at the July 11th celebration. The public is encouraged to attend.