Fred K. Darragh

White Little Rock businessman Fred K. Darragh spent World War Two flying cargo over the Himalayas from India to China. He remained a keen aviator as a civilian, flying solo around the world in 1962. Another thing Darragh gained from his wartime experiences was a commitment to social and racial justice through the influence of Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi. When Darragh returned to Arkansas after the war to run the family agribusiness, he became one of the first white businessmen in Little Rock to join the local interracial Urban League branch. In 1954, he co-founded the Arkansas Council on Human Relations, dedicated to smoothing the progress of school desegregation. Darragh openly supported the integration of Central High in 1957. In 1969, the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union was organized in his office. I’m John Kirk of the UALR History Department and this has been an Arkansas moment.