Collection Focus: Elizabeth Huckaby Papers

Elizabeth P. Huckaby was born April 14, 1905 in Hamburg, Ashley County, Arkansas. Her family moved to Texas for several years during her childhood, but she graduated from high school in Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas. She graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1926 with a bachelor's degree in education.

She began her career teaching in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas, but decided to go back to college to earn her master's degree in education. She left at mid-term in 1930, though, to accept a job as a teacher at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Elizabeth married Glenn T. Huckaby, an educator for the Little Rock School District, in 1933.

Huckaby taught English at Little Rock Central High School for 39 years. She became Vice-Principal for Women at Central High School in 1946 and served in that position during the 1957-58 school year.

During this time she kept a journal of her experiences and saved news clippings on the crisis. Her collected newspaper clippings, her diary from 1958 to 1959, student and personal records, and correspondence are held within her collection, the Elizabeth Huckaby Papers (UALR.MS.0118) at UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture.

In 1978, Huckaby published a book entitled Crisis at Central High based on her experiences and several drafts of the book are held in the collection. The film of the same title, starring Joanne Woodward, was made in 1980 and photographs from the set of the movie, as well as copies of the script are included in the collection.

The collection, in its entirety, will be digitized and available online. Much of the collection is already available for online use here. Explore the finding aid here.