Freezing rain and ice have created hazardous road conditions in and around Little Rock. As a result, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site will be closed on Wednesday, February 19, and all programming is canceled.
The Little Rock Nine are escorted up the stairs leading into Central High School under the protection of the 101st Airborne.
United States Army
The Little Rock school desegregation crisis of 1957 is one of the most-recognized historical events in America in the 20th century. Even those with only a cursory understanding of the Civil Rights movement in America likely are able to conjure images of the mob action that took place at Central High School in September 1957. The images, even if not the full meaning, of what happened then have become part of American culture, the nation’s collective memory. Like many memories, though, they can fade or lose their potency amid the welter of images and vital news stories that come to us every day from so many media sources.
- excerpt from Witness to Courage: Administrative History of Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
Here we examine some of the key figures involved at the forefront - and perhaps in the background - before, during and after the first fundamental test to the United States’ resolve to enforce African American civil rights in the face of massive southern defiance following Brown v. Board of Education.
People Integral to the Story of Little Rock Central High School
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Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
In 1957, nine ordinary teenagers walked out of their homes and stepped up to the front lines in the battle for civil rights for all Americans. The media coined the name “Little Rock Nine" to identify the first African American students to desegregate Little Rock Central High School.
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
In September 1957, Daisy L. Gatson Bates, Arkansas State President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and co-owner, with her husband, L.C., of the Arkansas State Press newspaper, was thrust into the spotlight during the Little Rock school desegregation crisis. Throughout the crisis, Bates served as a spokesperson for the NAACP’s efforts and also as a mentor to the “Little Rock Nine."
Sites:Eisenhower National Historic Site, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
In September 1957, angry mobs, the governor of Arkansas and the Arkansas National Guard blocked two attempts by African American students to enter and integrate the school. Later dubbed by the media as the Little Rock Nine, this group of students entered classes on September 25, 1957, escorted by the 101st Airborne, which had been ordered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to enforce the ruling and prevent interference with court orders of integration.
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
The school desegregation crisis at Little Rock Central High School put on trial America’s commitment to its founding principles. It was the first significant test of the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” The successful outcome affirmed the basis of that ruling—the 14th Amendment’s promise of “equal protection of the laws.”
Sites:Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
Emmett Louis Till (1941-1955) was a 14-year-old from Chicago who was kidnapped and lynched while on summer vacation visiting relatives near Money, Mississippi. His brutal murder sparked outrage and marked a pivotal moment in the Modern Civil Rights Movement. His violent death spurred the activism of his mother Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley, but also other prominent civil rights figures, including Rosa Parks and John Lewis.
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
Woodrow Wilson Mann served as the mayor of Little Rock (January 1956 to November 5, 1957) during the desegregation crisis at Little Rock Central High School.
After the African American students were denied entry into Central High School on September 4, 1957, Mann attacked Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus’ decision to use the Arkansas National Guard, saying there had not been a “shred of evidence” to justify their presence at Central High.
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
In September 1958, a group of women met to form the Women’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (WEC). Infuriated by the lack of response from business and community leaders, they formed the first organization to publicly condemn the school closing action and to support reopening the schools under the Little Rock School District’s desegregation plan.