Hays, Brooks

Description

Article in U.S. News and World Report based on excerpts from Hays' book A Southern Moderate Speaks Inside Story of Little Rock ... "I had come to Newport confident that . . . an agreement could be reached, and both the President and Governor Faubus acted in a manner that strengthened that opinion" understand the criticisms of the President's decision to confer with the Governor and to realize that I was becoming a target for attack by extremists on both sides for my efforts to compose differences. However, two telegrams provided one humorous reflection of the problems we faced. The one to Faubus was from a man in Florida and ran about as follows: "Pay no attention to that fellow traveling with you. Hays is an integrationist and should be repudiated." The Governor smiled and handed it to me. A few minutes later, I received a telegram from a Virginian which had this to say in substance: "Southerners should be ashamed of your Governor. Hope you can supply some sense for the Newport conference." I could not resist showing this one to Faubus with the comment that we were even now. The only trouble was that we had the responsibility for developing a course of action that would be satisfactory to the federal and State governments and still please people of the opinions reflected in these messages. It was a large order, and we did not deceive ourselves about the size of the task. I was confident, however, that the...

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Brooks Hays Materials

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University of Arkansas