Little Rock Nine Research Paper

In 1954, the Supreme Court took a step in history with the Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka by stating that, “In the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’, has no place. Separate facilities are inheritably unequal.” Little Rock, Arkansas a city in the upper south became a location of a controversial attempt to put the court order into effect when nine African American students were chosen to desegregate Central High in Little Rock. How did the Little Rock Nine affect America? Sanford Wexler stated in The Civil Rights Movement: An Eyewitness History,” its “effect would ripple across the nation and influence the growing Civil Rights Movement;” in addition, the Little Rock crisis forced the federal government

Some of the difficulties that Melba witnessed and experienced during the 1957 integration efforts of the “Little Rock 9” are when in chapter two after they made the decision on Brown v Board of Education when Melba was walking home after school a white man attempted to kidnap and assault and possibly rape Melba just because she was a young black girl.

The Little Rock Nine faced many struggles, and dealing with the Governor of Arkansas was one of them. As Elizabeth Eckford recalled in her interview with Facing History and Ourselves, she “walked further down the line of guards to where there was another sidewalk,” but when she “stepped up, they crossed rifles” (Eckford). She was informed the night before that there would be guards at the door, but she thought it was to protect them. This didn’t seem to be the case for her, though, because after trying three times to enter the school, she was led by a soldier into the crowd of angry people, shouting for her to leave. She said that they, “to [her] ears sounded like a mob” (Eckford). This was society’s first reaction to the Little Rock Nine,

Melba Patillo was kicked, beat up, and had acid thrown in her face. At some point during school white students burned an African-American effigy in a vacant lot across from the school.

Melba Beals was one of the first nine black students facing admission an all white high school. She entered Central High School as one of the “Little Rock Nine”. At the time, not only were Beals and the other eight students being prevented from Central High by angry mobs, but the Arkansas Governor had sent the National Guard to carry out that plan. Under these circumstances, President Eisenhower sent federal troops there, making sure the students got in safely. In addition,Beals experienced angry segregationist mobs and furious white people while arriving at her new school. Racist people and thoughts of segregation clouded her mind. As Beals states, “Some of the white people looked totally horrified, while others raised their fists at us.”

With the Integration came a very strong up rise segregationists, they tried to stop any movement forward of the integration of schools and the civil rights movement. In the book A Mighty Long Way governor Faubus is shutting down all schools to stop the integration from happening.

Little Rock NIne played a significant role in helping gain freedom and equality for black kids all across america. Little Rock Nine was a test for the supreme court ruling Brown vs. Board Of Education. Orval Faubus was the governor of Arkansas, he opposed school integration and because of that, Faubus sent the National guard to block the entrance of Little Rock central high school and keep out the black students trying to get in.

Little Rock Nine was known for being nine African American students who went to Little Rock’s all-white Central High School in the fall of 1957. They were sent there because of their “academic excellence and willingness to become racial pioneers.” says The Struggle for Freedom: A History of African Americans. The students were told that the National Guardsmen was going to be there that morning but on September 4th, they soon found out that the National Guardsmen was not there to protect the nine of them from angry white citizens, but to block them from getting into the school. On September 4th they were not successful in enter the school But the nine of them were determined and were not want to give up. So the following day, Daisy Bates, head of the NAACP’s local branch, arranged for them to meet to walk to the school together. One of the students named Elizabeth Eckford, did not have a phone in her home so she did not receive the memo. While she walked to school alone angry crowd of whites surrounded her, when she arrived to the school all alone. She was scared and confused all at once, so she sat tensed up on a bench. Luckily a white woman intervened and walked Elizabeth to safety. The other eight students made it to the school together and was turned around again

The Little Rock 9 were just normal black kids, but back in their time, no black kids were normal. There were no black kids allowed in any school except for the raggedy ones that were built for them. They didn’t get what the “normal” people got. White was the only thing that these people knew back then. White was the only “right” thing. These nine black kids were the first kids to try and attend the Central High School in Little Rock, AR (that is where they got the name from “Little Rock” 9) .

Rafael Espinosa Ms. Fletcher English 1-2, Per.5 05 May 2017 The Integration of the Little Rock Nine Who were the Little Rock Nine and why were they so important during the Civil Rights Movement? The Little Rock Nine was a group of African American students who integrated into a segregated high school in Arkansas. This event was the start Civil Rights Movement in 1957. In this essay, I will discuss, Little Rock Nine, how the Little Rock Nine impacted the Civil Rights Movement, and how discrimination and forms of exclusion in schools still exist in today’s society. In 1957, a group of African American students dubbed the Little Rock Nine integrated into the segregated high school, Little Rock Central.These braved students faced tremendous amounts

The multiple forces in favor of integration were determined to gain access to Central High School and integrate public schools in the south. Before any integration was possible in the United States, the NAACP, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was forced to file a lawsuit in the Federal District Court to integrate public schools immediately due to the public and state backlash towards integration (Beals 20). Judge Ronald Davies declared that Governor Faubus had “thwarted the court-approved plan of integration” furthering the movement to integrate Central High (Beals 68). After the lawsuit was settled, the Little Rock Nine was scheduled to integrate into Central High School. However, even after these

The Little Rock Crisis was a typical example of southern resistance on Brown II order and it also get world attention. In September 1957, nine African American students enrolled at Central High Scholl in Little Rock which is all white only school. “On September 2, the night before school was to start, Governor Orval Faubus called out the state's National Guard to surround Little Rock Central High School and prevent any black students from entering.” As suggestion, the nine students did not show up on the first day.

For example, Melba Patillo was kicked, pounded, and even had acid thrown in her face. There was also an occurrence when white students burned an African American effigy in an empty lot across the school. Gloria Ray was pushed down a staircase and the Little Rock Nine were not allowed to take part in extracurricular activities. Minnijean Brown got expelled in February 1958 for getting even with the attackers. The students were not the only ones who faced harassment. When Ray’s mother refused to take her daughter out of the school, she was fired from her job with the State of Arkansas (3, pages 4-5). The only senior of the Little Rock Nine, Ernest Green, was the first African American graduate at Central High School (1, page

Almost six decades have passed since Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls Lanier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed and Melba Pattillo Beals entered Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. From there, The Little Rock Nine would forever be remembered as an essential part of history. These nine students were the first African Americans to go to an all-white high school. In 1896, the court case Plessy v. Ferguson declared that “separate but equal” would carry throughout the United States. This separated the schools, and other things, such as water fountains and buses, on the basis of color (Little Rock School Desegregation). The Little Rock Nine was a group of students

Melba Beals says that “Governor Orval Faubus announced his refusal to support the integration of our state’s schools” (1994). To keep the nine students out of Central High School, he calls in the Arkansas National Guard, which is commanded by the State of Arkansas. Just imagine you’re going to school and upon arrival you see soldiers with guns trying to keep you out. One would not want to be anywhere near that school.