Letter to the editor: Thank you, Mike Parker

On behalf of the Adkin High School Alumni and Friends, Inc. Board of Directors, we would like to thank Mike Parker  for “The article that sparked the Adkin Walkout of 1951.”  It was accurate and timely as we look forward to next year’s celebration of 70 years since this historic civil rights moment occurred in Kinston.  This happened before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, before the NC A&T sit-ins and before the March on Washington.

We would like to acknowledge one correction.  Thomas Loftin (not Lawson) was among the five students that went to the Board of Education prior to that Tuesday, November 20, 1951.  As for the rest of the story, Adkin High students returned to class the Monday following Thanksgiving Break.  The Kinston Graded School Board subsequently found the money they initially claimed they did not have.  A new and modern facility was completed in the fall of 1953. 

Mission accomplished.

Rita L. Joyner, PhD
Adkin Alumni and Friends, Inc.
Secretary, Board of Directors
Kinston, NC