On this day, September 25, 1957, nine Black teenagers walked into Little Rock Central High School under the protection of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
The students, who became known as the Little Rock Nine, had been selected to integrate the all-white school. Their first attempt to enter came on September 4, when Arkansas National Guard troops, acting under orders from Governor Orval Faubus, blocked them from entering. A federal judge later ordered the Guard removed.
On September 23, eight of the students entered Central High under the protection of local police. An angry crowd gathered outside, and violence broke out. Police removed the students from the school for their safety.
The following day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and ordered about 1,000 members of the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock. The troops arrived that evening.
On September 25, the Little Rock Nine returned to Central High. At 9:22 a.m., more than 20 members of the 101st escorted the students through the front doors for their first full day of classes. Hundreds of paratroopers surrounded the school as the students entered.
The events in Little Rock became an important moment in the struggle over school desegregation following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.
The story of school desegregation was not limited to Arkansas. Here in St. Petersburg, students, families and community leaders also faced the challenges of desegregating local schools.
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