What happened when nine teenagers tried to walk into Little Rock's Central High?
Three years after the Supreme Court ordered school integration, a governor stood soldiers in front of a school door, and a president sent the army to open it.
▶ Start the storyNine Black teenagers were met by soldiers on the school's doorstep and, soon afterwards, by the United States Army. In 1957, three years after the Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional, nine African American students were due to start at Little Rock Central High School, which had been all white. The city's school board had approved a plan of gradual in 1955, and the registered nine students chosen for their excellent grades and attendance.
On 4 September 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas to support the . The sight of a line of soldiers blocking the students made national headlines. Most histories conclude that Faubus, campaigning for a third term, acted to appease racist elements in the state. Elizabeth Eckford, one of the nine, recalled the crowd: she looked for a friendly face, found what seemed a kind one, and then was spat on.
The mayor of Little Rock asked President Eisenhower for federal troops. Eisenhower ordered the to Little Rock and the entire 10,000-member Arkansas , taking it out of Faubus's control. By the end of September the nine were admitted under the army's protection.
10,000
That was not the end. The nine still endured a year of physical and verbal abuse by many white students. Ernest Green became the first African American to graduate from Central High. A year later, in September 1958, Faubus ordered all four of the city's public high schools closed, so that no student, Black or white, could attend.
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Recap
The Supreme Court could decide, but only the federal government could make a state obey.
💡 A trick to remember it · Nine students, one governor, ten thousand guardsmen: the door only opened when the president changed who gave the orders.
Surprising fact · When the courts ruled against delay, the governor closed all four public high schools for a year rather than integrate.
Sources (2)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (16 claims) cites at least one of these.