How it started
The Little Rock Nine were the nine African-American students involved in the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.
Their entrance into the school in 1957 sparked a nationwide crisis when Arkansas
governor Orval Faubus, in
defiance of a federal court order, called out the Arkansas National Guard
to prevent the Nine from entering. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by
federalizing the National Guard and sending in units of the U.S. Army’s
101st Airborne Division to escort the Nine into
the school on September 25, 1957. The military presence remained for the
duration of the school year.
Their entrance into the school in 1957 sparked a nationwide crisis when Arkansas
governor Orval Faubus, in
defiance of a federal court order, called out the Arkansas National Guard
to prevent the Nine from entering. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by
federalizing the National Guard and sending in units of the U.S. Army’s
101st Airborne Division to escort the Nine into
the school on September 25, 1957. The military presence remained for the
duration of the school year.