Developments in Education - The Little Rock Nine, 1957 (Edexcel GCSE History): Revision Note

Timeline

Summary

Schools, as well as most other public spaces, had been strictly segregated based on skin colour in the South for many years. The campaign to end this segregation was known as the Civil Rights Movement. Segregating schools based on skin colour had been judged as illegal by the Supreme Court but many schools would still not allow Black students to enroll. The attempt by nine Black students to enrol at a previously ‘Whites Only’ school in Arkansas in 1957 put America’s Civil Rights Struggle on the front of newspapers all over the world. It also led to the President sending soldiers to a school to enforce the ruling of the Supreme Court in the face of fierce opposition.

Who were the Little Rock Nine?

• In 1957, Little Rock High School in Arkansas was forced to desegregate

  • The Brown vs Topeka ruling stated that desegregated schools were unconstitutional

• The State Governor of Arkansas was called Orval Faubus

  • Faubus was a strong opponent of school desegregation

  • Arkansas, a southern state, wanted to keep segregated schools

• The Little Rock Nine were nine Black students who had enrolled at the ‘Whites Only’ Little Rock High School in Arkansas

• The students enrolled in 1957, three years after the Supreme Court had ruled that segregation broke the Constitution in the Brown v. Topeka judgement

  • Originally 75 Black students had applied to join Little Rock High School

  • Just 25 students were accepted 

    • A campaign of intimidation led to just nine taking up their places

Reactions to the Little Rock Nine

• When the nine Black students arrived for their first day of school on 3 September 1957, their entry was blocked by soldiers from the Arkansas State National Guard

  • The State Governor, Orval Faubus, claimed there was a danger of violence and public disorder if the Black students enrolled and ordered the soldiers to surround the school 

  •  On 4 September, Faubus ordered the National Guard to leave and the nine students were faced with a crowd of 1,000 angry protestors and hundreds of reporters

  • Fears for their safety meant that police guards escorted the Little Rock Nine home

How did Eisenhower resolve the events at Little Rock?

• Governor Orbus was defying a Supreme Court ruling, and the coverage of events at Little Rock was damaging the USA’s reputation abroad

• President Eisenhower decided to intervene by sending soldiers from the 101^st Airborne Division to protect the nine Black students for the rest of the school year

  • Orbus responded by closing every school in Little Rock from the following September to prevent desegregation taking place

  • The schools remained closed for the entire academic year until a combination of pressure from parents and a Supreme Court ruling caused Orbus to reopen them in 1959

The Little Rock Nine being escorted to their lessons by soldiers:

The Significance of the Little Rock Nine

• The shocking scenes brought national and international attention to the Civil Rights struggle

  •  Media coverage was essential and many people in the North were appalled by the openly racist events in Little Rock

• It showed that the President was willing to intervene and even send troops to enforce the law

  • It also showed that Supreme Court judgements alone were not enough to bring about change – they had to be enforced

Events at Little Rock High School made headlines around the world

•  It illustrated how many people in the South were deeply committed to maintaining segregation 

  • Orval Faubus’ actions may have appalled many people in the North, but he was re-elected as Governor of Arkansas four times

  • It showed how difficult it was to overcome tactics designed to delay desegregation 

  • Little Rock’s schools did not become fully integrated until as late as 1972

The attempts to stop desegregation were extremely popular with many White voters in the South