Hazel Massery

Who is Hazel Massery?

Hazel Bryan Massery was a student at Little Rock Central High School during the 1950s. She was depicted in an iconic photograph that showed her shouting at Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine, during the integration crisis. In her later life, she would attempt to make amends for this and briefly became friends with Eckford.

In 1998, Massery told The Guardian, "I am not sure at that age what I thought, but probably I overheard that my father was opposed to integration.... But I don't think I was old enough to have any convictions of my own yet." Later in life she changed her mind; she had thought of Martin Luther King as a "trouble-maker", but realized "deep down in your soul, he was right."

In 1963, having changed her mind on integration and feeling guilt for her treatment of Eckford, she took the initiative of contacting Eckford to apologize. They went their separate ways after this first meeting, and Eckford did not name the girl in the picture when asked about it by reporters.

By 1998 she was working with young black mothers-to-be and minority students, in part to make amends for her past actions, as well as because she was irked by being permanently represented in the media by a single photo. However, as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of Central High's integration, Will Counts wanted to take a second photo symbolising reconciliation; Massery agreed and was reintroduced to Eckford. The two swiftly became friends, spending time together to the point that she joked she was Eckford's chauffeur.