Black History: The Little Rock Nine

 

L to R: (sitting) Thelma Mothershed, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Gloria Ray, (standing) Jefferson Thomas, Melba Beals, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls, NAACP president Daisy Bates, Ernest Green.

The Little Rock Nine were a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957, who were initially prevented from entering the school by then-Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus until then-President Dwight Eisenhower intervened, allowing the students to attend.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled their decision in Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954, declaring establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional and called for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) began to register black students into previously all-white schools in the south. After the Little Rock School Board agreed to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling, they implemented a plan for gradual integration of its schools, which would begin in September 1957. The NAACP registered the nine black students, selected based on excellent academic performance and attendance, to attend Little Rock Central High: Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed and Melba Beals.

On September 4, 1957, Governor Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support segregationists when they threatened to protest and block the students from entering Central High. Initially, Faubus supported the high court's 1954 landmark decision but he didn't want to risk losing support of the Democratic Party in the upcoming gubernatorial primary for supporting the integration. At the time, southern conservative Democrats dominated southern politics and were mostly segregationists. The stand-off caught national headlines and President Eisenhower intervened, warning Faubus not to interfere with the court's ruling. On September 24th, Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army to Little Rock and federalize the 10,000 member Arkansas National Guard, taking control from Faubus' hands. Once the Army took their positions, the Little Rock Nine successfully entered school on September 25, 1957.

The students were still subjected to physical and verbal abuse. Although one student, Minnijean Brown, was suspended and expelled then transferred to a school in New York City, the remaining 8 still attended Central High. At the end of the school year, Ernest Green became the first African American to graduate from Little Rock Central High.