M ILESTONES The Michigan Daily - Orientation Edition 2004 - 7 Brown sisters recall roles in legal civil rights battle January 13, 2004 The sisters told their sto- my tears to freeze upon my By Farayha Arrine ries and answered audience face." and Karen Schwartz questions about their fami- Cheryl spoke about Brown Daly StaifReporters ly's involvement in the v. Board as the "beginning of Brown lawsuit, which over- the end" of racial segregation Her mother was at home ironing and turned the 1896 Plessy v. that started a dialogue in the listening to the radio and her father was Ferguson, "separate but United States about race rela- working at 12:52 p.m. on May 17, 1954, equal," precedent. tions. She added that fear is when the landmark Brown v. Board of "I know probably you've . one of the roots of racism, a Education ruling was announced, seen me, sometimes in your fear student panelist Paul declaring segregation in public schools history books with that little Spurgeon said is often used to unconstitutional. coat on," Thompson said. further misunderstandings As Thompson made the long trek "But I want you to sit back and manipulate people. home from school, she said, she thought and relax and think back "We have to understand about how her sisters would not have to with me some 50 years to 1that fear can be corrupted," make the same long walk in the fall. Brown v. the Board of Edu- Spurgeon, an LSA junior, Instead, they could attend the nearby and cation, and my family's part BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily said. formerly all-white neighborhood school. that we played in that very Linda Brown Thompson stands with a sign-language interpreter in Cheryl charged students Linda Brown Thompson and her sis- historic case." Rackham Auditorium. Thompson and her sister, Cheryl Brown with the responsibility of ter Cheryl Brown Henderson spoke with She recalled her father's Henderson, spoke about the landmark Brown v. Board decision. being active and involved citi- student panelists and the crowd that failed attempt to enroll her zens as well as informing filled Rackham Auditorium last night in in the all-white elementary school four only make half of it some days because future generations of the struggle for "A Conversation With The Brown Sis- blocks from her house and the anger the cold would get too bitter for a small equality in education. ters," the University's kickoff event for black parents felt about the "inaccessi- child to bear," Thompson said. "I can Cheryl emphasized the impact young the 17th annual Reverend Dr. Martin bility of the neighborhood schools." still remember taking that bitter walk people have on making change, and the Luther King, Jr. Symposium. "I can remember that walk, I would and the terrible cold that would cause need for youth to make their voices Renovated Hil Auditorium dazzles audience with return to 1913 interior heard with regard to "anything that smacks of injustice." She said she was particularly impressed with the young people who spoke out about the Supreme Court cases last year regarding the use of race as a factor in University admissions policies. "The average age of the people in this country that have changed this nation was about 16, 17," she said, talking about the dedicated actions of ordinary people in the Civil Rights Movement that made a difference. "They are you all sitting in this room and it's clearly the challenge we issue for this evening." She also discussed the value of educa- tion and its role as a foundation of the nation's democracy. "The bottom line is ... Brown v. Board was never about sitting next to white children. It was about having access to the resources that white chil- dren had access to, the resources were following those children and I'm sorry to say they still seem to be following those children," Cheryl said. January 9, 2004 By Andrew Kaplan Daily Staff Reporter Even when the sun shone briefly over a frigid State Street yesterday morning, its brightness was no match for the golden halls of Hill Auditorium. Nearly two years since closing its doors for renovations, the legendary auditorium - which housed such greats as opera virtuoso Luciano Pavarotti and impresario Leonard Bernstein in past years - reopened yester- day to University students and thousands of members of the Ann Arbor community. What they encountered was a structure prodigious- ly different from the aged, graying theater of the.last five decades. "It's just brighter," said Jennie Lombard, an Ann Arbor resident who graduated from the University in the class of 1959. Visitors wandered the auditorium, following musical performances and a ribbon-cutting ceremony by University President Mary Sue Coleman, administrators and architects. Lombard recalled concerts she attended in the auditorium during her days as a student, when the theater wore coats of gray and beige paint that concealed hundreds of opalescent lights. Today, the pale colors have been stripped away. The highest points of the ceiling now don sashes of blue and gold setting into gleaming bronze arches above the stage. "I've been ina lot of auditoriums and this was amazing," said Jessica Chaise, an LSA senior. "I've never seen a hall so beautiful," Cole- man said before participating in the ribbon- cutting ceremony on stage. But as project coordinators quickly pointed out, the auditorium's new look - which carries a $40 million price tag the University covered partly through donations - is more of a con- servative transformation than a metamorphosis into anything radical and untried. The renova- tion, which spent more than 10 years in the planning phase, restores Hill to its early-20th century "Arts and Crafts" decor. The University masked the original design during a 1949 remodeling project. "Because it's a restoration, we did it so it looks like it's always been here," said Henry Baier, associate vice president for facilities and operations for the University, who over- saw the auditorium's latest makeover. There are now, however, some amenities - artistic, acoustical and practical - that were absent from the hall when workers orig- inally completed its construction in 1913. With regards to the auditorium's interior, project coordinators brought back the house's gold, blue and bronze color scheme, illuminated more than 300 "medallion" and "necklace" lights on the hall's vaulting walls. They also hand-painted the yawning glass laylight that gazes down upon the audience. But whereas longtime patrons of the auditorium may remember seeing blue painted organ pipes on stage, workers leafed those pipes in gold. "They were very simple colors," Baier said, referring to the hall's 1949 motif. "They would be kind of a light beige, a light gray, where now you look it is very warm - very elegant." x 4oe name.o e a~ie n O F~n n FGet your dishes 0 " ~utensitsI I 0IU O U litem ,lss when you use this ad as a coupon fi (est t seprsenteattimeofpuupnchase) Value up to $5. Expires 10-31-04 bans tinen I +'U of M C(othing f RStisnium4and much More: I VERY, VERY CHEAP! I PTO THRIFT SHOP 1621 S.State - Telephone 996-9155 I 1 mile south of The Michigan Union, inside Bargain Books HOURS: Monday-Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday ttam-6pm, Sunday ttam-5pm.