Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

GLO Record of the Week for October 31, 2021

This week's Record takes us to Little Rock, Arkansas, where the Little Rock Central High School was designated a National Historic Site on Nov. 6, 1998. Located in Township 1 North Range 11 West, in the heart of the city, the site is now a reminder of the fight to integrate America's schools.

Little Rock Central High School National Historical Site

Little Rock Central High School was a focal point of the 1964 US Supreme Court Ruling (Brown v. Board of Education). On Sept. 4, 1957, nine African-American students were turned away by the National Guard while trying to attend classes at Central High School. Elizabeth Eckford, who arrived at the north end of the campus, was directed away by National Guardsmen. She was jeered and taunted by a crowd of protestors as she made her way to the bus stop where she was able to board a bus to her mother's workplace. The next morning, people around the country and world opened their newspapers to the image below.

"Will Counts: The Central High School Photographs" at the Arkansas Arts Center (now the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts)

The Little Rock School Board asked Judge Ronald N. Davies to temporarily suspend his desegregation order. He refused the school board's request and ordered them to proceed with the desegregation. On Sept. 20, 1957, Judge Davies ordered Governor Orval Faubus and the Arkansas National Guard to stop interfering with the court order to desegregate the school.

In 1957, military troops outside Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas enforced an order to integrate schools. (© AP Images)

On Sept. 23, 1957, the nine African-American students entered the school through a side door. By lunchtime, police and school officials feared that the school would be stormed, and sent the nine students home. Little Rock Mayor, Woodrow Man, asked the federal government for assistance, and President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10730, which sent units of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock and federalized the Arkansas National Guard.

On Sept. 25, 1957, and for the month following, the "Little Rock Nine" were escorted by US Army Troops and the National Guard into Central High School. On Oct. 25, one month after they arrived with a federal troop escort, the Little Rock Nine rode to school for the first time in civilian vehicles. While conditions calmed outside the campus, inside the school, the Little Rock Nine endured an endless campaign of verbal and physical harassment at the hands of some of their fellow students for the remainder of the year. The sacrifice and struggle endured by the Little Rock Nine have provided opportunities and opened doors for those seeking equality and education around the world.

"Will Counts: The Central High School Photographs" at the Arkansas Arts Center (now the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts)

In 1957, military troops outside Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas enforced an order to integrate schools. (© AP Images)