1957

Josh Trost, Savanna Viles, Kae Kae George, Emily O'Connor



In 1957, nine black students were chosen to help gradually intergrate Little Rock High School. They were going to attend the previously all-white high school. The decision was made in May of 1955, in result to the Brown vs. Board of Education trial, but they didn't fully implement the plan until September of 1957, starting the new school year. Little Rock Schools' superintendent Virgil Blossom was the one that devised the plan, even though it went against Arkansas Governor, Orval Faubus (pitured at the right). Later, in 1958, he was removed from office, along with many other of the school board members stepping down. The nine students that were selected to intergrate Little Rock High School were Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LeNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals. The Governor, Orval Faubus, sent out the Arkansas National Guard to physically block the nine students from entering the high school, complying with the treats given by many segregationist councils. After teh national guard blocked them, Mayor Woodrow Nilson Mann asked President Eisenhower to send federal troops to help enforce the integration and escort the kids through the school in the beginning. Even though the federal troops (and later the National Guard) escorted the students, they still endured a tough year of physical and verbal abuse, including being spat on the first day and Melba Pattillo Beals had acid thrown in her eyes. She was also possibly going to be burnt alive in a bathroom stall by dropping pieces of flaming paper on her.

> as author and former People Magazine journalist, currently living in San Fransisco.
 * Ernest Green- became first black student to graduate Little Rock Central High School in 1958. He went on to graduate form Michigan State University and is now a managing partner and vice president of Lehman Brothers in Washington, D.C.
 * Elizabeth Eckford- still lives in Little Rock. She made a career of the U.S. Army working as a journalist and is now a part time social worker.
 * Jefferson Thomas- graduated from Central High in 1960 and is now an accountant with the U.S. Department of Defense in California.
 * Terrence Roberts- completed high school in Los Angeles, California. There he earned his doctorate degree and teaches at the University of California in Los Angeles, as well as being a clinical psychologist.
 * Carlotta Walls LeNier- one of only three original 9 that radiated. She and Jefferson Thomas returned in 1959 and graduated from Central High. She then went on to attend and graduate from Michigan State University and lives in Colorado as real estate agent.
 * Minnijean Brown- explode from Central High in February of 1958 after many incidents, including dumping a bowl of chilli on someone who was harassing her. She now works as a writer and a social worker in Ontario, Canada.
 * Gloria Ray Karlmark- graduated from Illinois Technical College and received a post-graduate degree in Stockholm, Sweden.
 * Thelma Mothershed- made a career of teaching and now lives in Belleville, Illinois, where she is a volunteer in a program for abused women.
 * Melba Pattillo Beal- Although she endured much abuse while at Central High, such as having acid thrown in her eyes and possibly going to be burnt alive in a bathroom stall by dropping pieces of flaming paper on her, she


 * all careers are as of 1997 according to http://centralhigh57.org/The_Little_Rock_Nine.html#LR9

=**Positive Effects:**= "The Little Rock Nine" had a positive effect on The Civil Rights movement because it was one of the first steps in integration. Even though the students endured a large amount of physical and verbal abuse, they were the ones who started ther state-wide integration of schools. Not only did the other students and parents at Little Rock Central High School, but a lot of other schools in the area and state completely shut down to avoid integration. The Littel Rock Central High School was one of the first schools in Arkansas to integrate. With sending just black nine students to an all white high school, our integration of schools was jump started and our outlook on racism changed. When Ernest Green graduated as the first black student from Central High, people saw him as an equal education to themselves, even though he was black and most of them were white.

=**Importance:**= The importance of integrating public schools is huge. By integrating a younger part of our racism, it's teaching against racism. With the black students going to high school, they are also offered a better education then they may have been getting before, so then when they possibly graduate college, they'll be more prepared and hopefully more accepted in the working world because they received that higher education. Not only did this integrate the schools and made the children more tolerate, but it also helped to make the parents of the students, as well as the teachers, more open to an integrated life as our country progressed.

=Citations:=
 * www.wikipedia.org
 * www.centralhigh57.org
 * www.dipity.org
 * www.wikimedia.org