Objective:
Students will examine and understand the significance of the key events in the history of Little Rock Public School desegregation.
Procedure:
In this activity students will review the series of key events before, during, and after the integration process of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by creating a human time line. Before class begins write each of the events listed below on a separate large index card. The events are listed in chronological order. Begin the activity by explaining to students that they are about to create a human time line of the significant events in Little Rock, Arkansas. Randomly distribute the event cards. Direct students to reread the information on their card in the text,
The Americans
, Chapter 28, and to write a paragraph explaining the event under the heading of the card. The event should include a date or approximate date. Designate starting and ending points for the human time line and have the pairs whose events begin and end the chronology stand in their positions. Direct the rest of the class to decide among themselves where along the time line they should stand to create an accurate chronology. Check the accuracy of their time line with the chronological listing of the events provided below. Students are then to explain their event to the class as it occurs chronologically.
Material Used:
5x7 index cards, textbook
The Americans
The following timeline presents a brief glimpse into the key events of the crisis in Little Rock:
Spring, 1957 There were 517 students who lived in the Central High School district and were eligible to attend Central in the fall. Eighty expressed an interest in doing so. Following the interviews with the Superintendent and the staff, 17 are selected for the first year of integration. Eight of those decide to remain at the all black Horace Mann High School.
Summer,1957 The Capital Citizen’s Council and the Mother’s League of Central High are organized to oppose integration.
September 2, 1957 Governor Orval Faubus calls out the Arkansas National Guard to surround Little Rock Central High in order to
preserve the peace and avert the violence that might be caused by extremists who came to Little Rock in caravans.
September 4,1957 The nine black students attempt to enter Central High School and are turned away by the National Guard.
September 20,1957 Federal District Judge Davies rules that Faubus had used the troops to prevent integration and not keep the order as stated. The Governor is ordered to remove the Guardsman and the local police are put in charge.
September 23,1957 Nine black students enter the high school through a side door crowd of 1000 people milled around the outside door opposing integration. When the mob learned the students were inside they become unruly. The black students were sent home for fear of a riot.
September 24, 1957 The mayor of Little Rock sends President Eisenhower a telegram asking for federal troops to assist in the integration The President announces he is sending 1000 members of the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock. He also federalizes the National Guard.
September 25, 1957 Under escort by the Army troops the nine black students are escorted back to Central High.
December,1957 Taunted by white male students, Minnijean Brown, one of the black students, dumps a bowl of chili on her antagonists in the cafeteria. She is suspended for six days.
February 6, 1958 Minnijean Brown is suspended for the remainder of the school year following additional altercations with white students. She transferred to New Lincoln High School in New York City.
February 20,1958 The Little Rock School Board filed a request for permission to delay integration until the concept of “all deliberate speed” is defined and until effective legal means exists for integrating the schools without impairing the quality of the educational programs.
May 27,1958 Ernest Green becomes the first black student to graduate from Central High School. Federal troops and city police are at hand, but the event goes perfectly.
June 21,1958 Federal District Judge Harry Lemley grants the delay of integration until January 1961, stating that while black students have a constitutional right to attend white schools the “time has not come for them to enjoy that right.” The NAACP appeals.
August 18,1958 The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses the Lemley order.
August 21,1958 The School Board requests the Appeals Court to stay the order overturning Judge Lemley’s decision for 30 days to allow the board time to appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
August 25,1958 The U.S. Supreme Court announces a special session to discuss the Little Rock desegregation issue.
August,1958 Governor Orval Faubus calls a special session of the state legislature allowing him to close public schools to avoid integration and lease the schools to private school corporations.
September,1958 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that Little Rock must continue with its integration plan. The School Board announces the opening of the city’s high schools on September 15.Governor Faubus orders Little Rock’s three high schools closed.
September 16,1958 The Women’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools is formed and asks for a special election as a way to keep the schools open.
September 27,1958 Public high schools in Little Rock close for the year, sending the city’s 3,698 high school students to seek alternatives. More than 750 whites enroll in newly established private T.J. Raney High School. Others leave town or the state to live with relatives or friends to continue their education.
November 12, 1958 Five of the six school board members resign in frustration, having been ordered by the federal appeals court to proceed with integration of the high schools, even though it had no high schools to integrate.
December 6,1958 A new school board is elected with its members divided on the issue of integration.
March,1959 Little Rock Chamber of Commerce votes in favor of integrating the school on a controlled minimum plan.
June 18,1959 Federal Court declares the state’s school closing law unconstitutional. The new school board announced it would reopen the high school in the fall.
August 12,1959 School board opens public high schools a month early. Three black girls quietly attend the new Hall High School.
Fall, 1972 All grades in Little Rock public schools are finally integrated.