1959 Holocaust On 21 African-American At Wrightsville Juvenile Correctional Facility.

How familiar are you with the ugly story of the 1959 Black Boys Burning?
A tragedy occurred at the Arkansas Negro Boys’ Industrial School – a juvenile correctional facility for young negroes in Wrightsville, Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States.

A fire that was believed to have been set by an outsider razed the dormitory housing 69 young black boys. At the same time, 48 of them managed to escape through an egress created by a night sergeant, a 16-year-old O. F. Charley Meadows.

The dormitory, which has two exits and was padlocked from outside, was set on fire around 4:00 a.m. on 5th March 1959. The house was filled with 13-17-year-old negroes that were believed to have been there for disciplinary reasons. One of them was reportedly administered there because he rode a white boy’s bicycle even after the white boy’s mother admitted to the authorities that she was aware.

Others were there for some petty stealing, crimes, violent acts, and homelessness.

Forty-eight of these young African-Americ... https://54history.com/1959-holocaust-on-21-african-american-at-wrightsville-juvenile-correctional-facility/