The Madison/Dane County King Coalition is pleased to announce that the 31st Annual City of Madison & Dane County observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr.Holiday will feature Earnest Green, one of nine students, known as the “Little Rock Nine” to first integrate Central High School following the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Several books, movies and documentaries have been produced chronicling Mr. Green and his eight classmates’ historic year at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas—the most recent being The Ernest Green Story, produced and distributed by the Walt Disney Corporation. Mr. Green went on to a successful career in finance. He served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training during
the Carter Administration. Mr. Green has been recognized as one of the “Top 25 African Americans on Wall Street” and as one of the “75 Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street.”
Mr. Green, along with the other eight students, was presented by President Clinton with the highest honor this nation gives to a civilian—the “Congressional Gold Medal”—for his outstanding bravery during the integration
of Little Rock Central High School in 1957. In 2005 Mr. Green and the other Little Rock 9 were honored with a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service, and in 2007 President George Bush signed an
Executive Order authorizing the U. S. Mint to issue a one-dollar coin commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the “Little Rock Nine.”
The City-County Observance will take place on Monday, January 18, 2016 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Overture Center for the Arts, in downtown Madison, Wisconsin.This year’s observance continues the popular tradition of kicking-off with a “Freedom Songs Sing-in”from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. in the Rotunda of the Overture Center. The City-County Observance will then take place beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Overture Center’s Capitol Theater. The Observance will also feature presentation of the Madison-Dane County Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award by Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Paul Soglin. Annette Miller, Emerging Markets and Community Development Director with Madison Gas & Electric will serve as M.C.
