Arkansas: Difference between revisions

After the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional in [[Brown v. Board of Education|''Brown ''v.'' Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas'']] (1954), some students worked to integrate schools in the state. The [[Little Rock Nine]] brought Arkansas to national attention in 1957 when the federal government had to intervene to protect African-American students trying to integrate a high school in the capital. Governor [[Orval Faubus]] had ordered the [[Arkansas National Guard]] to help segregationists prevent nine African-American students from enrolling at Little Rock's Central High School. After attempting three times to contact Faubus, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,000 troops from the active-duty 101st Airborne Division to escort and protect the African-American students as they entered school on September 25, 1957. In defiance of federal court orders to integrate, the governor and city of Little Rock decided to close the high schools for the remainder of the school year. By the fall of 1959, the Little Rock high schools were completely integrated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=723 |title=Little Rock Nine—Encyclopedia of Arkansas |access-date=August 24, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929115012/http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=723 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>