Today in History: The Little Rock Nine

On this day (September 4) in 1957, Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas, used the National Guard to prevent nine African American students from entering Little Rock Central High School. After the Supreme Court Decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the Little Rock School Board agreed to follow the court ruling and unanimously approved a plan of gradual desegregation. When the first nine African-American students showed up for school they were prevented from entering by the National Guard and images of the confrontation filled newspapers around the country. The Mayor of Little Rock asked President Eisenhower to intervene to protect the students and allow them to attend school. On September 24, Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne (minus their African American members) to escort the “Little Rock Nine” to class.