1957 TIME CAPSULE: DESEGREGATION IN THE SCHOOLS
by Cheryl Lowry

Time Capsule 1957: The Little Rock Nine

One Month after Judy Mae’s death in 1957, a critical event in civil rights history occurred in Little Rock, Arkansas, illustrating the state of American race relations in this era.

Back in May of 1954, the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ended the legality of racial segregation in public schools, citing segregation to be in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, regarding equal protection of the laws. By September 1957, Little Rock, Arkansas planned to desegregate Little Rock Central High.

The day before classes were to begin, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus summoned the Arkansas State National Guard to prevent nine black students from entering Central High on their first day of school, citing fear of mob attacks. From then on, jeering crowds, Arkansas police, Federal troops, and finally the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army became involved in the student's quest to attend Central High. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had this to say of the crisis on September 23rd:

“I want to make several things very clear in connection with the disgraceful occurrences of today at Central High School in the City of Little Rock. They are:

1. The Federal law and orders of a United States District Court implementing that law cannot be flouted with impunity by any individual or any mob of extremists.
2. I will use the full power of the United States including whatever force may be necessary to prevent any obstruction of the law and to carry out the orders of the Federal Court.
3. Of course, every right thinking citizen will hope that the American sense of justice and fair play will prevail in this case. It will be a sad day for this country—both at home and abroad—if school children can safely attend their classes only under the protection of armed guards.
4. I repeat my expressed confidence that the citizens of Little Rock and of Arkansas will respect the law and will not countenance violations of law and order by extremists.

A day after this speech, the 101st Airborne Division escorted the Little Rock Nine through the doors of Central High.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has a page devoted to a timeline, photographs, and headlines from the crisis, and the Little Rock Central High 40th Anniversary Web site tells the story of the Little Rock Nine in 1957, and again 40 years later, when they reunited on the steps of Central High with President Bill Clinton, who said of the crisis: "We saw not one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, but two Americas, divided and unequal. What happened here changed the course of our country here forever."

Sources:

Photo: Microsoft Encarta, Magnum Photos/Burt Glinn
Microsoft Encarta
The Little Rock Central High 40th Anniversary Web Site
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette