Choices in Little Rock The First Day of School

Do Now SWBAT analyze a photograph for point of view Do Now: Answer the following questions about your first day at a new school (for example, as a 6 th grader at PCA) – 1. What did you expect the day to be like? 2. What did you fear? 3. What did you look forward to? 4. How did you prepare for the day? 5. What surprised you about the experience? 6. How do you think your experience may have been similar or different to the groups of African Americans who joined white schools after desegregation?

Announcements Quiz tomorrow Study guide for Vocabulary Quiz 2 due

Video Introduction

Background Information In 1955, Virgil Blossom, the superintendent of schools in Little Rock, announced a plan to integrate the schools gradually beginning in 1957 with Central High African American candidates were chosen on the basis of their grades and ability to handle the pressures of being in a school that was mostly white (some dropped out as candidates for fear of their safety) Those who were chosen and decided to go were the Little Rock Nine

Little Rock Nine

Background Information One of the Little Rock Nine (Ernest Green) was not expecting any problems: “There hadn’t been any trouble expected, given the fact that there had been other schools in Arkansas that had been integrated — Fort Smith, Arkansas, and some others. The buses in Little Rock had been desegregated without any problem. The library was integrated; the medical school and the law school at the University had admitted some blacks. So there was an expectation that there would be minimal problems, but nothing major that would put Little Rock on the map.”

Background Information The night before school started, Governor Orval Faubus went on televeision and said that he was calling out the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the Little Rock Nine’s entrance to school The governor claimed it was “for their protection”

“I am Elizabeth Eckford” I am part of group that became known as the Little Rock Nine. Prior to the segregation of Central, there had been one high school for whites, Central High School, and one high school for blacks, Dunbar. I expected that there may be something more available to me at Central that was not available at Dunbar; that there might be more courses I could pursue; that there were more options available. I was not prepared for what actually happened.

“I am Elizabeth Eckford” I was more concerned about what I would wear, whether we could finish my dress in time.... What I was wearing, was that okay? Would it look good? The night before when the governor went on television [September 2] and announced that he had called out the Arkansas National Guard, I thought he had done this to insure the protection of all the students. We did not have a telephone. So, inevitably we were not contacted to let us know that Daisy Bates of NAACP had arranged for some ministers to accompany the students in a group. And so it was I that arrived alone.

“I am Elizabeth Eckford” On the morning of September 4th, my mother was doing what she usually did. My mother was making sure everybody’s hair looked right and everybody had lunch money and notebooks and things. But she did finally get quiet and we had family prayer. I remember my father walking back and forth. My father worked at night and normally he would have been asleep at that time, but he was awake and he was walking back and forth chomping on a cigar that wasn’t lit.

“I am Elizabeth Eckford” I expected I would go to school as I did before on a city bus. So, I walked a few blocks to the bus stop, got on the bus, and rode to within two blocks of the school. I got off the bus and I noticed along the street that there were many more cars than usual. And I remem- ber hearing the murmur of a crowd. But, when I got to the corner where the school was, I was reassured seeing these solders circling school grounds. And I saw students going to school. I saw the guards break ranks as students approached the sidewalks so that they could pass through to get to school.

“I am Elizabeth Eckford” And I approached the guards at the corner, as I had seen other students do, they closed ranks. So, I thought maybe I am not supposed to enter at this point. So, I walked further down the line of guards to where there was another sidewalk and I attempted to pass through there. But when I stepped up, they crossed rifles. And again I said to myself maybe I’m supposed to go down to where the main entrance is. So I walked toward the center of the street and when I got to about the middle and I approached the guard he directed me across the street into the crowd. It was only then that I realized that they were barring me so that I wouldn’t go to school.

“I am Elizabeth Eckford” As I stepped out into the street, the people who had been across the street start surging forward behind me. So, I headed in the opposite direction to where there was another bus stop. Safety to me meant getting to the bus stop. I think I sat there for a long time before the bus came. In the meantime, people were screaming behind me. What I would have described as a crowd before, to my ears sounded like a mob.

Analyzing a Picture 1. Who do you see in the picture? (Describe details about who you think they are based off of evidence: for example, the men with helmets and guns are likely soldiers) 2. What are the people in the picture wearing? (This can tell us about the time period) 3. What types of actions are the people in the picture doing? (Describe their hand movements and facial expressions) 4. How are the people in the photograph relating to each other? 5. How close or far away are people standing? (This gives us the mood of the picture) 6. What type of feeling do you get from the picture? (Angry, happy, etc) 7. What do you think was the purpose of why the photographer took this picture? (What are they trying to tell the person who is looking at the photograph?)

Expectations Working silently and independently You should have BOTH sides completed for your classwork grade Use complete sentences; they help us on the road to college! You will be graded on completeness, using complete sentences, and your level of analysis

Photo A

Photo B

What power do photographs have to change history? Not everyone in the photos is harassing Elizabeth; some people are bystanders (people who do are not victims or wrongdoers). Perlesta Hollingsworth is an African American who lived near Central High in In 1997, he told a reporter, “The shocking thing to me in 1957 was the number of whites who didn’t participate in the aggression, who wouldn’t do anything but look. Neighbors would express dismay, but wouldn’t do anything, wouldn’t speak out against it, would go ahead and close their doors to it.” Many sociologists believe that bystanders influence an event by the amount and the kind of attention they pay to the event. Why do you think many people expressed disappointment or sadness but wouldn’t speak out?