Speaking or race: I was planning to mention a program at the Clinton School next week on the topic featuring two speakers well-known to me.

John Bilheimer and Henry Jones are among the members, including my wife, in the group of people who served as law clerks to federal Judge G. Thomas Eisele.

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They’ll appear at 6 p.m. Thursday at Sturgis Hall on the topic:  Little Rock Central High 1957-59 and Beyond: A Black and a White Perspective

They were teens — Bilheimer white and Jones black — in the Deep South in the late 1950s, a time that included the Central High desegregation battle.

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The two grew up near one another before leaving the state to pursue their education. Billheimer earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Arkansas and Harvard University; Jones attended Yale University and the University of Michigan. The pair did not meet until adulthood while working at Arkansas’ first integrated law firm.

Jones became a federal magistrate in Little Rock and is now retired. Bilheimer is a trial lawyer for the Justice Department. Both live in the Washington, D.C. area. They have a wealth of things to talk about.

Clinton School events are free and open to the public. You can be sure to have a seat by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.

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