Little Rock Central High School

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Little Rock Central High School.
Photo courtesy Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

Little Rock Central High School Visitor Center

2120 Daisy Bates Drive

Little Rock, AR

Website:  Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

The Treasure:  Little Rock Central High School possesses enormous symbolic significance in the struggle for African-American civil rights as the location where long-standing policies of school segregation were publicly challenged.

Accessibility:  The Little Rock Central High School Visitor Center is open daily from 9 to 4:30.

Background:  On September 23, 1957, nine teenagers went to school… and the United States changed forever. The “Little Rock Nine” entered American history that day as symbols of youthful courage in the face of anger and racism. The U.S. Supreme Court had supported the right of African-American youth to attend public schools designated as “white only” three years earlier, but it took a federal/state showdown in Little Rock to transform the legal right into a reality.

Students escorted into Central High School by 101st
Airborne Division on September 25, 1957.
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Police protected the Little Rock Nine as they entered Central High School on September 23 but escalating violence outside the school led to the students’ swift removal, escorted out soon after being escorted in. Two days later, on September 25, over a thousand members of the 101st Airborne Division escorted the Little Rock Nine safely into the school where they enjoyed their first full day of classes.

On a national level, the events of this period demonstrated the federal commitment to enforcing equal civil rights for all U.S. citizens, regardless of race. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision promised an end to practices of school segregation and a new era of integration in which black and white students would be entitled to the same quality of public education. President Dwight D. Eisenhower called out the federal troops to Little Rock to enforce the Supreme Court decision. Angry mobs opposing the integration of Central High School received vocal support from Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus.

The showdown between Eisenhower and Faubus continued to simmer over the next two years, creating enormous stress at the school under the glare of international media attention. Three of the Little Rock Nine students completed their high school studies at Central High School, with Ernest Green becoming the first African-American student to graduate from Central High School on May 25, 1958.

The Little Rock Nine were:  Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo.

Notes from the Editor:  Central High School continues to educate a fully-integrated student body today. In fact it’s the only still-operating high school in the country to be awarded the distinction of being a National Historic Site. President Bill Clinton signed the legislation in 1998, recognizing the important role this school from his own native state had played on the national stage.

Preserved Mobil Station where reporters would gather
during the events of the late 1950s.  Photo courtesy of
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

For visitors, everything can be found at the intersection of Daisy Bates Drive and South Park Street. The school is on the southwest corner, a commemorative garden is on the northwest corner, the Visitor Center is on the northeast corner, and a preserved Mobil gas station is on the southeast corner.

At the Central High School Visitor Center, you can experience multimedia exhibits and see a film on the historic events at Central High School in the late 1950s. A Mobil gas station that served as a gathering area for reporters in the 1950s has been preserved on the other side of Daisy Bates Drive.

There is a Central High Commemorative Garden across Park Street from the Visitor Center. Embedded within arches at the park are photographs depicting both the time of crisis and the successful integration of the school in the years that followed. In honor of the Little Rock Nine, there are nine trees and benches.

Other Recommended Sites:  Arkansas is justly proud of its many National Parks and State Parks. Central High School is one of seven National Park sites in the state. The others are: Arkansas Post National Memorial, Buffalo National River, Clinton Birthplace National Historic Site, Fort Smith National Historic Site, Hot Springs National Park, and Pea Ridge National Military Park.

There are 52 Arkansas State Parks where visitors can explore the natural beauty of Arkansas’ mountains, valleys, forests, and rivers, as well as important historic sites such as prehistoric Native American mound sites and Civil War battlefields.

New York City Mayor Robert Wagner greets the Little Rock Nine in 1958.
Pictured, front row, left to right:  Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford,
Carlotta Walls, Mayor Wagner, Thelma Mothershed, Gloria Ray;
back row, left to right:  Terrence Roberts, Ernest Green, Melba Pattilo,
and Jefferson Thomas.  World Telegram photo by Walter Albertin.
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Tour America's History Itinerary

Wednesday’s destination:  Eureka Springs City Auditorium
Friday’s destination:  Camp Ouachita

© 2012 Lee Price