Perhaps the most iconic scene in the New Orleans desegregation structure was the U. S. Federal Marshals daily escort of Leona, Tessie and Gail past the segregationists who gathered each day to protest the girls’ presence at McDonogh # 19. At a reunion at Tulane University sponsored by the Amistad Research Center, the Louisiana Center for Civil Rights and Social Justice, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S. Marshals Museum, Gail, Leona and Tessie united with the surviving federal marshals who escorted them. They had not seen each other in fifty years.

At the unveiling ceremony on November 14th, a teary Gail Etienne Stripling expressed her feelings to the marshals who protected them. “This has been a long coming,” she stated. “Mr. Al, Mr. Charlie, and Mr. Herschel – you don’t know the feelings I have in my heart for you three because you put your lives on the line to protect us and bring us into this school.”

The U.S. Marshals Service is the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency, established by Senate Bill 1, in 1789, and signed by George Washington. Since their creation, U.S. Marshals have been involved in many of the nation’s most historic and important events. In 1794, they protected tax collectors during the time leading up to the Whiskey Rebellion. In 1850, under the Fugitive Slave Law, they were given the authority to arrest runaway slaves and return them to their owners. A little more than one hundred years later, they protected and enforced the rights of African-Americans under Civil Rights legislation and protected students as they integrated schools across the south, including New Orleans Public Schools. Today, many of their duties remain the same as they were over 200 years ago-protecting the federal judiciary. They are also responsible for tracking and arresting federal fugitives, including sex offenders; running the Witness Security Program; transporting federal prisoners domestically and internationally; and much more.

The history of the U.S. Marshals Service is the history of our nation. Their story will be told in the U.S. Marshals Museum, to be located in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Fort Smith was selected for many reasons, one of which is the historic connection to the USMS. In the late 19th Century, Fort Smith was the gateway to Indian Territory, an area notorious as a hideout for criminals seeking to escape justice. Judge Isaac Parker was appointed to the Western District of Arkansas in 1875. During his tenure, he sentenced 160 people to death. The U.S. Marshal for the district and his deputies were responsible for finding the fugitives in Indian Territory and bringing them to court. Because the job was so dangerous and the criminals so violent, more U.S. Marshals, deputy marshals, and special deputy marshals are buried in the region than anywhere else in the country.

Currently, the museum is in the fundraising stage. When completed, it will be a 50,000 square foot facility sitting on the banks of the Arkansas River. The museum will interpret the history of the USMS from 1789-present through three interpretive galleries: A Changing Nation, which explores the times in our history when the USMS has been on the opposite side of public opinion; Frontier Marshals, explores the many frontiers: new federal law enforcement agency in a new nation, Old West, Alaska, etc; and Marshals Today, explores the role of the USMS today. Educational programs will be a cornerstone of the museum and programs are currently taking place, such as the reunion on November 13.

For more information on the United States Marshals Service
Contact: www.usmarshalsmuseum.com
Jessica Hayes, MAPH
Director of Museum Operations
U.S. Marshals Museum
(479) 242-2634 (o)
(479) 650-3623 (m)