When the Little Rock Arkansas School Board was ready in 1927 to build two high schools – one for their white and another for their black students, they relied on the 1896 Supreme Court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the principle “separate but equal.” First
the Board began to allocate funds for the new white Central High School, a massive building with auditorium, cafeteria, two classroom wings, all built to the latest specifications. When they completed their planning, guess what?! No funds were left to construct Dunbar High for their black students. No surprise. Foundations supported by the Rockefellers and Rosenwalds did step in and provide funds for a high school for black students. Underfunded, ten in a science classroom would share in dissecting one frog; while at Central there was one frog per student. Textbooks and supplies came from Central High; what they discarded when their books were upgraded. And then, some of the white students wrote racial epithets in the books that were to be given to Dunbar.
And so it went until 1954 when, in the case Brown vs. Board of Education, the Warren Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for black and white students were inherently unequal and called for a remedy “with all deliberate speed.” Three years later in 1957 a plan was developed to begin desegregating the schools of Little Rock. While Virgil Blossom, the superintendent of schools had proposed beginning integration at kindergarten, the decision was made to begin with Central High School with the intent of extending integration down to the lower grades over time. The thought was that high school students would be more able to handle it -- clearly an ill-conceived plan.
Integration would alter more than 90 years of the Jim Crow experience for blacks and whites in the South, which had led to “separate but equal” schools. In Little Rock, the burden of the school integration effort was borne by nine brave “colored” teenagers who were the first to break the racial barrier in the face of massive opposition by the dominant white population. Leadership to effectuate peaceful change in Arkansas was totally absent at the state level, and in fact was fully opposed by Governor Orval Faubus who brought the weight of the state against the effort.
On September 2, 1957 Gov. Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to bar the African-American students from the school “for their safety.” On a televised broadcast, he stated that he had heard that whites were coming from all around the state to oppose integration. And of course, as predicted, the mob appeared. This mob of white students and parents, augmented by those from around the state who adamantly opposed integration, harassed Elizabeth Eckford as she was turned away from the school. The angry scene was captured on television, the new medium of communication; no longer was such news just a local issue.
A federal judge ruled against the use of National Guard troops to block the black students from entering the school. The local police were then given the responsibility of protecting the students. On September 23, when the students re-entered, the police, inadequate in numbers and in commitment, lost control, and this too appeared on TV nationwide. Taking a leadership role, President Eisenhower then federalized the Arkansas National Guard and added 1200 troops from 101st Airborne to enforce the law, firmly stating, “You are free to disagree with the law, but you are not free to disobey it.” On September 25, all nine students entered Little Rock High School protected by armed soldiers who remained on duty until November when local forces again took over.
All during the year, the Little Rock Nine, as they were now called, endured daily verbal and physical abuse in classrooms, the lunchroom and the hallways. But, ever so bravely, they persisted. Ernest Green, the only senior in the group, despite the admonition of the principal not to appear at graduation, proudly walked across the broad stage in his cap and gown on May 25, 1958.
The segregationists continued to resist and used a local referendum to close its high school rather than accept integration. Unbelievably, Little Rock Central High School and Dunbar High School closed their doors for the entire 1958-59 school year. But the schools were ordered to open, again by a federal court, for the 1959-60 school year. In 1960, with the atmosphere remaining toxic, the schools reopened, but now only three black students matriculated at Central High School. In the end, we must thank those brave young students, the Little Rock Nine, the first to break the color barrier in Arkansas, for so much of the progress towards the racial equality we have seen since then.
What happened to these brave few? All graduated from high school, from college, and some earned a graduate degree. All were successful in their chosen professions— teaching, nursing, and engineering. All, save one who had passed away, came together in 2007 to mark a 50th reunion of their brave, groundbreaking entry into Central High School.
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| Central High, Little Rock, AR |
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| Students Escorted by Military |
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| Justice Thurgood Marshall on Supreme Court Steps with some of the Little Rock Nine |
the Board began to allocate funds for the new white Central High School, a massive building with auditorium, cafeteria, two classroom wings, all built to the latest specifications. When they completed their planning, guess what?! No funds were left to construct Dunbar High for their black students. No surprise. Foundations supported by the Rockefellers and Rosenwalds did step in and provide funds for a high school for black students. Underfunded, ten in a science classroom would share in dissecting one frog; while at Central there was one frog per student. Textbooks and supplies came from Central High; what they discarded when their books were upgraded. And then, some of the white students wrote racial epithets in the books that were to be given to Dunbar.
And so it went until 1954 when, in the case Brown vs. Board of Education, the Warren Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for black and white students were inherently unequal and called for a remedy “with all deliberate speed.” Three years later in 1957 a plan was developed to begin desegregating the schools of Little Rock. While Virgil Blossom, the superintendent of schools had proposed beginning integration at kindergarten, the decision was made to begin with Central High School with the intent of extending integration down to the lower grades over time. The thought was that high school students would be more able to handle it -- clearly an ill-conceived plan.
Integration would alter more than 90 years of the Jim Crow experience for blacks and whites in the South, which had led to “separate but equal” schools. In Little Rock, the burden of the school integration effort was borne by nine brave “colored” teenagers who were the first to break the racial barrier in the face of massive opposition by the dominant white population. Leadership to effectuate peaceful change in Arkansas was totally absent at the state level, and in fact was fully opposed by Governor Orval Faubus who brought the weight of the state against the effort.
On September 2, 1957 Gov. Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to bar the African-American students from the school “for their safety.” On a televised broadcast, he stated that he had heard that whites were coming from all around the state to oppose integration. And of course, as predicted, the mob appeared. This mob of white students and parents, augmented by those from around the state who adamantly opposed integration, harassed Elizabeth Eckford as she was turned away from the school. The angry scene was captured on television, the new medium of communication; no longer was such news just a local issue.
A federal judge ruled against the use of National Guard troops to block the black students from entering the school. The local police were then given the responsibility of protecting the students. On September 23, when the students re-entered, the police, inadequate in numbers and in commitment, lost control, and this too appeared on TV nationwide. Taking a leadership role, President Eisenhower then federalized the Arkansas National Guard and added 1200 troops from 101st Airborne to enforce the law, firmly stating, “You are free to disagree with the law, but you are not free to disobey it.” On September 25, all nine students entered Little Rock High School protected by armed soldiers who remained on duty until November when local forces again took over.
All during the year, the Little Rock Nine, as they were now called, endured daily verbal and physical abuse in classrooms, the lunchroom and the hallways. But, ever so bravely, they persisted. Ernest Green, the only senior in the group, despite the admonition of the principal not to appear at graduation, proudly walked across the broad stage in his cap and gown on May 25, 1958.
The segregationists continued to resist and used a local referendum to close its high school rather than accept integration. Unbelievably, Little Rock Central High School and Dunbar High School closed their doors for the entire 1958-59 school year. But the schools were ordered to open, again by a federal court, for the 1959-60 school year. In 1960, with the atmosphere remaining toxic, the schools reopened, but now only three black students matriculated at Central High School. In the end, we must thank those brave young students, the Little Rock Nine, the first to break the color barrier in Arkansas, for so much of the progress towards the racial equality we have seen since then.
What happened to these brave few? All graduated from high school, from college, and some earned a graduate degree. All were successful in their chosen professions— teaching, nursing, and engineering. All, save one who had passed away, came together in 2007 to mark a 50th reunion of their brave, groundbreaking entry into Central High School.
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