Carlotta Walls LaNier made history for doing what has now become a routine task for any teenager -- she went to school.

On Sept. 24, 1957, LaNier and eight other black students walked into Little Rock Central High School, officially integrating the Arkansas school and marking an important moment in the civil rights movement.

Now, nearly 50 years later, LaNier will speak as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. evening celebration at 7 p.m. today in the Eisenhower Auditorium.

"For our MLK program, it means so much because we're doing whatever we can to celebrate Dr. King's life," said Krystal Nunn, public relations chairwoman for the Martin Luther King Day Overall Committee. "Just having her here is a great honor."

The event has drawn large crowds in the past. When Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke last year, about 2,500 people packed the auditorium.

Nunn said the committee has been trying to elicit a similar response this year, handing out fliers, chalking sidewalks and even using Facebook as a marketing tool.

"We've been letting them know. Spread the word. Tell a friend," Nunn said. "This is a great opportunity."

Lanier, 64, was just 14 when she made her famous walk with the 101st Airborne through protestors, making her the youngest of the group that has come to be known as the "Little Rock Nine." She was one of only three of the original nine to eventually graduate from Central.

The integration of the school was an important stepping stone in the civil rights movement, coming less than three years after the historic Brown v. Topeka Board of Education decision declared segregated schools to be unconstitutional and called for nationwide desegregation.

After high school, LaNier spent two years at Michigan State University before moving to Denver with her family. She later finished her degree at Colorado State and now works as a realtor in Colorado.

Gene Foreman, a recently retired Penn State professor in the College of Communications, was just a 22-year-old general assignment reporter for the Arkansas Gazette in 1957. But as he helped cover the events unfolding around the Little Rock Nine, youth still didn't stop him from realizing the cultural, social and historical significance he was witnessing.

"They were pioneers," he said. "Someone had to be the first and they were the ones."

Foreman remembers the scene of the nine students being ushered into the school with paratroopers surrounding them. He also remembers that in 1997, the students walked back into the school -- but this time it President Bill Clinton holding the door for them.

Foreman said that scene was a "dramatic symbol of the change that has occurred."

In that year, Clinton presented LaNier with the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Foreman said he cannot attend the speech today, but hopes students take a chance to catch a glimpse of someone who changed history.

In addition to LaNier's speech, today's celebration will feature student vocal and dance performances by groups such as Tapestry and Orchesis. The speech is open to the entire community. Admission is free and tickets are not necessary.