The Little Rock Nine 1957 Goal: to desegregate the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas

Nine black students enroll in the white high school in September 1957 Gloria Ray Terrence Roberts Melba Pattillo Jefferson Thomas Carlotta Walls Thelma Mothershed Ernest Green Minnijean Brown Elizabeth Eckford 1st to graduate 1st to be expelled 1st to try to enter

TIMELINE: to desegregate Little Rock schools: Resistance to change 1957… April 30: segregationist Citizens Council demand governor to order the 2 races to go to their own schools in the fall. June 27: segregationists submit questions to School Board. One question reads: "If Negro children go to integrated schools, will they be permitted to attend school sponsored dances, and would the Negro boys be allowed to solicit the white girls for dances?'' Aug. 25: An 8 ft high cross is burned on the lawn NAACP worker. A message reads: "Go back to Africa. KKK.''

Why Take the risk? The Nine black students want a better education 1959 marchers take to the streets to protest the desegregation of Central High in Little Rock The Nine black students want a better education Central High has AP courses Central High has science labs Central High has good athletic teams

Send in the Guard 1957 Sept. 2: the night before school opened, Governor Orval Faubus orders the Arkansas National Guard to block the LITTLE ROCK NINE’s entrance to school.

September 4, 1957 First Day Troubles… - 400 angry men & women came to “jeer, boo, and shout” - 270 Arkansas National Guardsmen, on hand to “prevent” violence, barred the entrances from the Nine - 850 of the 2100 enrolled white students do not attend school Elizabeth Eckford is turned away.  September 4, 1957

Elizabeth Eckford arrived alone and was confronted by an angry mob. She tried to enter the school but was forced back at bayonet point. Walking alone, surrounded by a hostile, racist crowd, she reached a bus stop and sat on the bench to wait for a city bus to take her out of there. Eckford later said, “I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the mob—someone who maybe would help. I looked into the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat on me.”

A white woman shielded Eckford as she waited for the city bus to arrive. Afterwards, she guided Elizabeth to the bus and boarded it with her.

September 23, 1957 The Nine attempt to enter Central High after President Eisenhower forced Faubus to call off National Guard. 1000 angry racists, mostly outsiders, ranted at the Nine who enter secretly through side door. An assistant police chief takes the Nine from school secretly, as violence outside escalates.

Federal Response September 24, 1957: the mayor asks President Eisenhower for US Marshal protection. Eisenhower addresses nation… He orders the US Air Force’s 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to protect the students. He also federalizes 10,000 Arkansas National Guardsmen. President Dwight D. Eisenhower

The 101st at Little Rock High 1957 The 101st at the Battle of the Bulge in WWII in 1944 The 101st at Little Rock High 1957

September 25, 1957: The Nine arrive in US military cars with their air force body guards.

September 25: 1000 troops from the 101st Airborne protect the Nine… September 25: 1000 troops from the 101st Airborne protect the Nine….10,000 Arkansas National Guard keep the peace.

“The troops did not, however, mean the end of harassment. The 101st left November 1st. Melba Pattillo had paper wads lit on fire and thrown at her in the girls’ bathroom…the backs of her shoes were stepped on so regularly that her heals were raw with blood. “The troops did not, however, mean the end of harassment. It meant the declaration of war.” Melba Pattillo

The Battle won, the war goes on Minniejean Brown gets suspended for dumping chili on two white antagonist girls. Brown is suspended again after an altercation with a white girl who poured soup on her. The white girl is also suspended…Brown reportedly calls another antagonist,"white trash" -- after which the white girl hits Brown with her purse. Brown gets expelled for 1 year the girl gets off without punishment. Two white boys are suspended for wearing buttons that said, "One Down, Eight to Go” after Brown's suspension. A white boy is suspended for pushing Gloria Roy down the stairs. Most of the 2100 white student body ignored The Nine The 20 or so who helped the Nine were beaten by others. Most teachers ignored violence in school

KKK KKK put a reward on Melba Pattillo’s head: $10,000 dead $5, 000 alive

“Every Day was Like Going to War…” Ernest Green May 27, 1958: Ernest Green graduates, the first of the Nine No one clapped when he received his diploma

End of the Road… Little Rock district votes to close school on Sept. 27, 1958 with 62% against integration. Schools in Little Rock district closed for the 1958-1959 school year.

Only two of the eight who did not graduate in the class of 1958, Carlotta Walls and Jefferson Thomas, returned and graduated from Central High School.