Civil rights figures Little Rock Nine to get Lincoln Leadership Prize in Chicago

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation is planning to honor the Little Rock Nine with its Lincoln Leadership Prize later this month.

The foundation says it will honor the civil rights figures at a dinner May 18 in Chicago. Actress and playwright Regina Taylor will present the awards.

A hostile crowd confronted the nine students as they helped integrate Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in 1957. They became known as the Little Rock Nine. The foundation says the prize is given to those with character, conscience and a commitment to democracy and service.

Previous recipients include former President Bill Clinton, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.