Pulaski Heights Junior High · Little Rock, Arkansas

A Legacy of
Remarkable People

From a Little Rock neighborhood school to the national stage.

For more than a century, students have passed through these halls. Some went on to shape sports, government, journalism, culture, scholarship, business and the history of Arkansas itself.

Portrait of Brooks Robinson
Brooks Robinson
Portrait of Helen Gurley Brown
Helen Gurley Brown
Portrait of Gen. Wesley K. Clark
Gen. Wesley K. Clark
Portrait of Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Sarah Huckabee Sanders

MORE THAN 100 YEARS OF PULASKI HEIGHTS HISTORY

One school. Generations of impact.

Notable Alumni

Explore one clear, growing record of people connected to Pulaski Heights. Use the subjects below to narrow the list.

25 alumni

Portrait of Brooks Robinson

Sports

early 1950s

Brooks Robinson

Baseball Hall of Famer

Baltimore Orioles legend, 18-time All-Star and one of the greatest defensive third basemen in Major League Baseball history.

Sources & PHMS connection

Played quarterback for Pulaski Heights Junior High and helped lead the Panthers to the 1951 junior-high state football championship.

Sources: Encyclopedia of Arkansas · National Baseball Hall of Fame official biography

Portrait: PHMS community submission · Used with permission for PHMS community site · View image source

Portrait of Helen Gurley Brown

Arts & Culture

1930s

Helen Gurley Brown

Author & Publishing Icon

Author of Sex and the Single Girl and longtime editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, Brown became one of the most influential figures in American magazine publishing and popular culture.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Portrait: John Bottega, New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection · Public domain · Library of Congress, no known restrictions · View image source

Portrait of Gen. Wesley K. Clark

Government & Public Service

1950s

Gen. Wesley K. Clark

Four-Star General & NATO Supreme Allied Commander

A four-star United States Army general who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO and later became a presidential candidate.

Sources & PHMS connection

Served as editor of Pulaski Heights Junior High's student newspaper, the Tip Top Times.

Sources: Encyclopedia of Arkansas · U.S. Army official biography

Portrait: United States Army · Public domain · United States government work · View image source

Portrait of Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Government & Public Service

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Governor of Arkansas

47th Governor of Arkansas and former White House Press Secretary.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Official Office of the Governor biography

Portrait: Official United States government photograph · Public domain · United States government work · View image source

Arts & Culture

Matt Besser

Comedian & Co-Founder of Upright Citizens Brigade

Actor, comedian and writer who co-founded Upright Citizens Brigade, one of the most influential institutions in modern American improv comedy.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Scholarship

Frances W. Pritchett

Scholar & Columbia University Professor

Distinguished scholar of Urdu, Hindi and South Asian literature and professor emerita at Columbia University.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Columbia University faculty biography

Government & Public Service · Business & Civic Leadership

Jack Wilson Holt Jr.

Former Chief Justice, Arkansas Supreme Court

Former Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Arkansas judiciary oral history collection · Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Government & Public Service

John Fred Stroud Jr.

Arkansas Supreme Court Justice

Arkansas Supreme Court justice and former Chief Judge of the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Arkansas judiciary oral history collection

Government & Public Service · Scholarship

Calvin R. "Cal" Ledbetter Jr.

Political Scientist & State Legislator

Political scientist, educator and five-term member of the Arkansas House of Representatives.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Business & Civic Leadership · Government & Public Service

Capi Peck

Little Rock City Director & Restaurateur

Little Rock City Director, restaurateur and longtime civic leader.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: City of Little Rock official biography

Journalism

Orville Henry

Arkansas Sports Journalist

Legendary Arkansas sports journalist and one of the most influential sportswriters in state history.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Encyclopedia of Arkansas · University of Arkansas Pryor Center oral histories

Journalism

Wesley Pruden

Editor & Columnist

Journalist, editor and longtime columnist for The Washington Times.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Journalism

Leslie Newell Peacock

Arkansas Journalist & Writer

Longtime Arkansas journalist and writer associated with the Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Times.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Arkansas Times archives

Arts & Culture · Journalism

Lucy Babcock

Actress & Community Theater Leader

Actress, television personality, civic leader and an important figure in Little Rock's early community theater movement.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Arkansas archival collections

Sports

Mike Beard

Major League Baseball Pitcher

Major League Baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Official Major League Baseball records

Sports

Bill Runyon

Track Athlete & Hall of Fame Inductee

University of Arkansas track athlete and Arkansas Track & Field Hall of Fame inductee.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Arkansas Track & Field Hall of Fame

Sports · Civil Rights & History

1968

Kenneth "Muskie" Harris

Razorback Football Letterman

University of Arkansas football letterman and member of the 1968 Pulaski Heights championship football team, who later became a four-year Arkansas Razorback letterman.

Sources & PHMS connection

Member of Pulaski Heights' 1968 championship football team during the years Little Rock schools were still working through court-ordered desegregation.

Sources: University of Arkansas athletics records · Little Rock School District records

Sports

Clark Irwin

Quarterback & Razorback Letterman

Little Rock Central quarterback and University of Arkansas Razorback football letterman.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: University of Arkansas athletics records

Sports · Business & Civic Leadership

Mike McGibbony

Athlete, Official & Hall of Fame President

Football player, longtime official and former president of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame

Sports

Samuel Richard Sims Jr.

Multisport Athlete & UALR Trojan

Pulaski Heights multisport athlete who later played basketball for the UALR Trojans.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: UALR athletics records

Civil Rights & History

Kathleen Bell

Pioneering Student, Little Rock Junior High Desegregation

Among the pioneering Black students who helped desegregate Little Rock's junior high schools, entering classrooms where neither welcome nor safety was guaranteed.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Little Rock School District records · Arkansas archival collections

Civil Rights & History

Pinkie Thompson

Pioneering Student, Little Rock Junior High Desegregation

Member of the first generation of Black students integrating Little Rock junior high schools, part of a cohort that carried the weight of a city's resistance.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Little Rock School District records

Civil Rights & History · Sports

1968

Ardry Rogers

Student at the Center of Federal Desegregation Litigation

A Pulaski Heights ninth grader whose athletic eligibility became the subject of significant federal desegregation litigation in 1968.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Federal court records, Eastern District of Arkansas · Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Civil Rights & History · Business & Civic Leadership

Kwami Abdul-Bey

Public Historian & Civil-Rights Organizer

Little Rock public historian and civil-rights organizer; co-founder of the Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement

Business & Civic Leadership

Tracey Roland-McMillon

Little Rock Community Leader

Little Rock community leader whose work has centered on education, youth and neighborhood advocacy in the city.

Sources & PHMS connection

Sources: Local civic records

Little Rock, 1957 and after

Part of Little Rock's Story

The history of Pulaski Heights is intertwined with Little Rock's long and difficult process of school integration and equal opportunity.

Kathleen Bell, Pinkie Thompson, Ardry Rogers, Kenneth “Muskie” Harris and other students entered classrooms, teams and public institutions during years marked by hostility, isolation and legal battles. Their experiences deserve direct, careful remembrance—not a simplified celebration.

The alumni record above includes their individual stories and available sources alongside the wider history they helped shape.

More Than a Century

  1. 1908

    Origins of Pulaski Heights School

    A neighborhood school opens to serve the growing Pulaski Heights community west of downtown Little Rock.

  2. 1921

    The historic building opens

    The school moves into the building that still anchors the campus today.

  3. 1951

    A state championship season

    Brooks Robinson quarterbacks the PHJH Panthers to a junior-high state football championship.

  4. 1950s

    Editor of the Tip Top Times

    Future NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark attends PHJH and edits the student newspaper.

  5. 1960s

    Part of a difficult chapter

    Pulaski Heights becomes part of Little Rock's continuing school-integration story.

  6. Today

    Still in the heart of Little Rock

    Pulaski Heights Middle School continues educating students in the heart of the city.

Help Us Tell the Full Story

Know an alumnus whose story belongs here, or have a yearbook, photograph or program to share? Help the community archive grow.

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Current PHMS students gathered by the Panther sign