LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former President Bill Clinton joined the eight living members of the Little Rock Nine on Saturday to dedicate an exhibit in the Clinton Presidential Center commemorating the black students who were pioneers in school integration more than five decades ago.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 outlawed racial segregation in the nation’s public schools, but it wasn’t until 1957, at Little Rock, that the federal government resolved to enforce the court’s directive.

It was the first gathering of the group of students from Little Rock Central High School without fellow member Jefferson Thomas, who died last year.

“This is the first time for all of us to be together without Jeff among us,” said Carlotta Walls LaNier, president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation. “We are eight today but in the spirit of this occasion, we will always be the nine.”

Clinton shared in that sentiment.

“He was one of those men that was so nice and polite, it was easy to underestimate what he knew and how he felt,” he said.

The Little Rock Nine Congressional Gold Medal exhibit features one of the medals awarded to the group by Clinton on behalf of the Congress in 1999. Members of the Little Rock Nine collectively donated the medal to the Clinton Foundation in 2009 to honor their relationship with the former president.