On this day in history, little people from across the country answered a celebrity's call to gather in the Biggest Little City. A group of 20 short-statured people met three-foot-nine-inch celebrity Billy Barty in downtown Reno on April 4, 1957.
They paraded the streets with a local high school marching band, and voted unanimously to form the nonprofit Little People of America.
Today, LPA offers resources to people who have dwarfism, including grants and scholarships, employment information, advocacy programs, and more.
Watch the video clip above to see the LPA's archival footage of the Reno meet-up 68 years ago today.
The LPA notes that some of these clips contain the word "midget." Most members of the short-statured community consider that term a slur. Those who met Barty in Reno in 1957 voted unanimously to strike the word from the organization's name.
