 Melba Pattillo Beals

Melba Joyner Pattillo Beals (born December 7, 1941) is an American journalist and college educator who is widely known as a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who were the first to integrate Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.Born on December 7, 1941, the same day as the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Beals grew up in a family that prized education.