My 2 Second Shelf Life

The Little Rock Nine



The most difficult walk to school ever!

The U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, on May 17, 1954. The decision declared all laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional, and it called for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation. [1] After the decision the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attempted to register black students in previously all-white schools in cities throughout the South. In Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas, the Little Rock School Board agreed to comply with the high court's ruling. Virgil Blossom, the Superintendent of Schools, submitted a plan of gradual integration to the school board on May 24, 1955, which the board unanimously approved. The plan would be implemented during the 1958 school year, which would begin in September 1957. By 1957, the NAACP had registered nine black students to attend the previously all-white Little Rock Central High, selected on the criteria of excellent grades and attendance. [2]

Several segregationist "citizens' councils" threatened to hold protests at Central High and physically block the black students from entering the school. In response, Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists on 4 September 1957. The sight of a line of soldiers blocking nine black students from attending high school made national headlines and polarized the city. On 9 September 1957, "The Council of Church Women" issued a statement condemning the Governor's deployment of soldiers to the high school and called for a citywide prayer service on 12 September. Even President Dwight Eisenhower attempted to de-escalate the situation and summoned Governor Faubus to meet him. The president warned the governor not to interfere with the Supreme Court's ruling.