The Little Rock Nine
PROVIDED BY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Figure 1. A boy watches protesters march to Central High School in Little
Rock after federal courts order its integration in 1957.
Three years after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, which
officially ended public-school segregation, a federal court ordered Little Rock to comply. On
September 4, 1957, Governor Orval Faubus defied the court, calling in the Arkansas
National Guard to prevent nine African American students — “The Little Rock Nine” —
from entering the building. Ten days later in a meeting with President Eisenhower, Faubus
agreed to use the National Guard to protect the African American teenagers, but on
returning to Little Rock, he dismissed the troops, leaving the African American students
exposed to an angry white mob. Within hours, the jeering, brick-throwing mob had beaten
several reporters and smashed many of the school’s windows and doors. By noon, local
police were forced to evacuate the nine students.
When Faubus did not restore order, President Eisenhower dispatched 101st Airborne
Division paratroopers to Little Rock and put the Arkansas National Guard under federal
command. By 3 a.m., soldiers surrounded the school, bayonets fixed.
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Under federal protection, the “Little Rock Nine” finished out the school year. The
following year, Faubus closed all the high schools, forcing the African American students
to take correspondence courses or go to out-of-state schools. The school board reopened the
schools in the fall of 1959, and despite more violence — for example, the bombing of one
student’s house — four of the nine students returned, this time protected by local police.
On the web
Little Rock Central High 40th Anniversary
http://centralhigh57.org/
An online exhibit to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the integration of Little Rock's
Central High School.
From Canterbury to Little Rock: The Struggle for Educational Equality for African Americans
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/crandall/crandall.htm
A Teaching with Historic Places lesson plan from the National Park Service.
Little Rock Central High School Historic Site
http://www.nps.gov/chsc/index.htm
History, biographies of the Little Rock Nine, and more from the National Park Service.
After Facing Mobs 50 Years Ago, Nine Go Home to Honors
http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2007/August/
20070820172941berehellek0.3646051.html
News article profiles the Little Rock Nine fifty years later.
More from LEARN NC
Visit us on the web at www.learnnc.org to learn more about topics related to this article,
including African Americans, Arkansas, Civil Rights Movement, civil rights, desegregation,
education, and school desegregation.
Image credits
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version of this document.
Figure 1 (page 1)
U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress. This image is
believed to be in the public domain. Users are advised to make their own copyright assessment.
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