Nine Split Stars

 In 1959, when he was nine, Ronald McNair tried to check out some books from a segregated library in South Carolina. The librarian told him to leave and called the police when he wouldn’t. When the officer arrived, he asked, “Why don’t you just give him the books?” She reluctantly complied. Eight years later, Ronald graduated high school as valedictorian. He received a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics – magna cum laude – from North Carolina A&T, and a PhD in physics from MIT. In 1978 Ronald was selected for NASA’s astronaut program. In 1984 he became the second African American to fly in space. Ronald was one of the seven astronauts killed in the Challenger shuttle disaster in 1986. Several schools have been named for Ronald McNair. There’s a building at MIT and a crater on the moon that carry his name. And the library that once tried to kick him out is now the Ronald McNair Life History Center.