Missouri State University gives black salutatorian her due, and more

Missouri State University gives black salutatorian her due

Sixty years ago, Mary Price Walls, the salutatorian of her high school in Springfield, Mo., was denied admission to Missouri State University for one simple reason: The school did not accept blacks. In a symbolic bid to right that wrong, the university will award Walls, now 78, an honorary degree at its summer commencement. Walls never got the chance to go to college and retired last year from her job as a janitor. She will accept the honorary degree, she said, to help teach her 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren about a part of their history. “To me, it would be an inspiration to my children,” she said. “They have been raised into a better world.”

Cinema historian discovers Old Chaplin film

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Cinema historian Paul Gierucki bought what he believed was just another old Keystone comedy from an antiques store. But when he finally got around to watching it, he was delighted to discover that it included an appearance by the legendary Charlie Chaplin. The film, A Thief Catcher, was shown last week at a film festival in Arlington, Va.—marking its first showing since 1914. It was only Chaplin’s third appearance on film, and until now was never listed in his filmography. “To turn up something 90 years later is just remarkable,” Gierucki said.

Bus driver saves ten from a two-family home fire

Richard Lucas, a bus driver in Buffalo, was on his usual early morning route last week when he noticed smoke pouring from the back of a house. He pulled over the bus full of passengers, ran out, and began banging on the front door. Ten people inside the two-family home, all of whom had apparently been asleep, stumbled out, just as the house burst into flames. But before anyone could thank Lucas for saving their lives, he had already jumped back onto the bus and was finishing his route. “People have got to go to work,” he said. “That’s what we do.”