(PRWEB) June 11, 2014 -- The recently finished statue of Alice Piper, created by Big Statues, was unveiled at Big Pine Schools this last week.
Alice Piper was a Native American girl who, among many others, wanted the same opportunity to learn as everyone else. The Native American school in the Big Pine School District was smaller with a different curriculum and was specialized for Native Americans.
She wanted to go to her local school, but was denied the same opportunity because of her race. At the young age of 15, Alice Piper did not stand by waiting for someone else to change that, she took it upon herself to sue the school district for being unconstitutional in causing the children to go to a separate school.
The Statue Supreme Court ruled that the law was in violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. As a result, Alice Piper and all other Native American children were allowed to attend the public school. Alice Piper and the Big Pine school district played a large role in the constitutional battle over Native Americans’ rights.
This last week, the finished Alice Piper statue was unveiled with a cultural dedication. Attending the ceremony were dignitaries from around the county, state, as well as local and other Native American tribes. The dedication consisted of various performances by the students attending the school.
“On the day of the unveiling what struck me the most, was the incredible outpouring of pride and sense of ‘it is about time,’ for the recognition of Alice Piper and the Native American role in the desegregation of schools in our country. Tribal members locally, and from all over the state came together to celebrate this day. It was humbling and uplifting at the same time,” says superintendent Pamela Jones.
Matt Glenn, lead artist at Big Statues, felt privileged to be apart of this great project. He is happy to hear the great response the statue has received so far.
Matt Glenn, bigstatues.com, http://www.bigstatues.com, +1 801-358-9739, [email protected]
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