The Arkansas Secret Holocaust

I heard about this on the radio this morning, and I felt the need to talk about it here because this travesty of justice needs to be publicized more. 21 black teenage boys lost their lives in 1959, and here is part of the horrific story:

It was one of the worst fires in state history, and led to the tragic deaths of the Wrightsville 21.

It still torments Luvenia Lawrence almost 50 years later—and brings her back to the Haven of Rest Cemetery.

(Luvenia Lawrence-Long, Mother of Victim) "Ain't never heard tell of nothing like this before."

She is 81 years old now, but can still recount details only found now in decaying newspaper headlines. On the morning of March 5th, 1959, the Wrightsville Negro Boys Industrial School burned to the ground. Twenty-one teenage boys never made it out. Her 14-year-old son Lindsey was among the dead.

(Lawrence-Long ) “He was a good boy. It was bad. It was sad. It's a hurt--it's a hurt. All I could do was cry and pray."

It may still be the most fatal fire in state history. Frank Lawrence was only two-years-old when his brother Lindsey was presumably buried, along with 13 other boys, in a mass grave. There are no markers, just tiny yellow flags.

Even now, there are more questions than answers. Most of the fire investigation was kept from the public.

(Frank Lawrence, Brother of Victim) “We have never been able to truly know if there are remains of my brother along that 14-burial plot path with those other 13 boys. If he's in there."

The dormitory housed some six-dozen boys, sent there by juvenile authorities mostly for making more mischief than menace. The conditions were almost medieval.

(Lawrence) “According to the newspaper accounts, these young boys had to survive in a space literally three feet apart from each other."

They lived close together, and died the same way.

(Lawrence) "Just the vision of 21 boys all trapped and then 14 dying in a pile…"

The exit doors were locked. Forty-six boys did escape through the steel mesh windows. Luvenia found out on the news that Lindsey was not one of them.

(Lawrence-Long) “Didn't nobody call me when that school caught on fire. Didn't nobody call me. Didn't nobody come there and tell me."

(Lawrence) “This has been something that has not been a part of our family history, that's been the kind of thing that you talk about readily. Because there's been a certain amount of shame that goes along with the loss--because the tragedy and the horrific nature of reliving the horror makes one want to put it in the farthest recesses of our minds."

Frank though, has now put his brother's death at the forefront of his life. He's compiled all the information he can find. He's making a documentary to get at the questions that have haunted the family. Is really buried here? How did the accident happen? Was it an accident at all?

(Lawrence) “It's on me to do whatever I can while my mother is still alive to make certain that it's done right."

It may help with the doubt, but it won't do much for a mother's pain.

(Lawrence-Long) "I still feel it. I've got his picture by my bed, hanging up in the corner. I look at it and pray everyday. That's all I can do now."

With his documentary, Frank Lawrence will continue to pursue the truth of what happened on that March morning. And while he may never get closer to any definitive answers, it's likely he'll continue to grow closer to the brother he barely knew.

You can find out more about the Wrightsville 21 at http://www.arkansassecretholocaust.com/.

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