Denise McNair

You could call it an up-close history lesson; or a sober reminder of historic and current events. On the 52nd anniversary of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, hundreds of students crammed into  Huffman High School’s auditorium to hear Jeff Steinberg.

The former high school history teacher travels the country discussing – sometimes controversially – civil rights past and present. Remembering the dynamite blast that killed four girls on Sept. 15, 1963, Steinberg challenged the youths in the audience to take a stand for justice today.

He shared chilling details of how Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson died.

“The most incredible lesson of the McNair family is that, in spite of what happened to their daughter and sister, they have chosen not to hate, but rather, to forgive those who wronged them. It’s truly a life lesson for us all.”

Steinberg introduced Lisa McNair, the younger sister of Denise.

After speaking for a few minutes, McNair became emotional as she relived her sister’s story. Lisa was born more than a year after her sister was killed. She considers it her mission to ensure Denise is remembered. And while the story of her family is widely known, she wants to bring light to lesser-known civil rights leaders.

Steinberg’s presentation included other civil rights heroes like Elizabeth Eckford and Minnijean Brown-Trickey, who were among the first African-American students to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas.

Steinberg allowed about 40 students to speak to Eckford by phone and pledge to her they will stand up for civil rights and give mutual respect to all people. Eckford suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from her memories of the angry mob that threatened her and the others in the Little Rock Nine, barring their entrance to the school.

“So many stories of these brave Americans are still, even more than 50 years later, not in our students’ history books,” McNair said. “I didn’t even know about many of these people until I traveled on this journey 10 years ago. My family feels that organizations like Sojourn to the Past see to it that these folks that fought peacefully and died in the movement did not do so in vain.”

Steinberg closed his presentation by inviting the Huffman students to take a seven-day civil rights trip in the South to learn more about the past.Learn more at Sojourn to the Past.

Steinberg visited Carver High Sept. 14 and will visit the following schools the remainder of this week:

• Jackson-Olin High: Wednesday, Sept. 16
• Ramsay High: Thursday, Sept. 17
• Wenonah High: Friday, Sept. 18