|
|
Article: Marie Hicks, 83, the Rosa Parks of Girard College: Her crusade in the 1960s led to the desegregation of the Phila. school.(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)(Obituary)
- Article from:
- The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA)
- Article date:
- April 21, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Philadelphia Inquirer. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: Gayle Ronan Sims
Apr. 21--Marie Hicks, who in 1965-66 led thousands of pickets, including the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., around the wall that stood between two of her sons and entry into Girard College because they were black, died Thursday of complications of Parkinson's disease at Willow Terrace in Germantown. She was 83 and lived in Germantown.
The 10-foot wall and what it symbolized at Girard College inspired one of the most dramatic civil rights confrontations in Philadelphia history.
"Mrs. Hicks was our Rosa Parks," Girard president Dominic M. Cermele said yesterday. "In 2004, when the Pennsylvania Museum put up the exhibit ...