NEWS & PUBLICATIONS

photo courtesy of Central High School

   Little Rock, Arkansas, September 1957. Nine African-American students report to Central High School for the first day of class. They are greeted by an angry mob of white students, parents, and local citizens who make it abundantly clear that these new students are not welcome. Armed soldiers from the Arkansas National Guard, under the direction of Gov. Orval Faubus, halt the nine students at the threshold until President Dwight Eisenhower dispatches 101st Airborne Division para-troopers to Little Rock, placing the National Guard unit under federal command to guarantee the students’ safe passage.

   Three years after the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, denouncing the “separate but equal” approach to education in the South, classrooms became the locale for a trial of another sort, and the “Little Rock Nine” spent the next year under the watchful eye of an entire nation. Most emerged from their ordeal quite successful: Ernest Green graduated from Michigan State University and later served as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs. Terrence Roberts now chairs the Master’s in Psychology Program at Antioch University. Melba Pattillo Beals is a published author, Thelma Mothershed Wair, a teacher. The list goes on, but their larger legacy is, no doubt, the diverse group of students who followed in their footsteps and benefitted from a more equitable education. That historic breakthrough for all Americans is now commemorated at Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

   Central High was constructed in 1927 at a cost of $1.5 million—more than 150,000 square feet spreading over two city blocks. With its gothic architecture and Greco-Roman cast stone figures perched over the main entrance, the building resembles an Ivy League university more than a typical high school in the Deep South.

   The school became a park unit in November 1998, but unlike most historic buildings in the Park Service, this one still serves its original purpose: More than 2,200 teenagers attend classes here every day. Thanks to a unique arrangement between the Park Service and the school’s administrators, park rangers lead limited group tours of the school between bells and during summer vacation; other groups and individuals are welcome to see the visitor center, take self-guided tours of the area around the school, or follow ranger-led tours of the surrounding neighborhood.

   “When we talk to visitors, we generally try to develop a personal connection between folks and the story,” says Michael Madell, the park’s superintendent. “We talk about life in the Jim Crow South and how incredibly courageous it was for these young people to assert these basic rights. We also encourage folks to think about what that may have been like for them when they were at that age. Would they have been able to do what these teens did?” Madell likes to illustrate the fact that many of these battles are far from over: He often shares the story of a young black teen in Georgia who struggled to organize her school’s first integrated prom; few visitors guess that story took place in 2002.

   The Park Service plans to construct a new visitor center adjacent to the school. But for now the unit has one of the more unusual visitor centers—a quaint Mobil service station across the street from the school, renovated to serve as a private exhibit center before the Park Service took over. The building even played a small role in the drama that unfolded so many years ago: Reporters covering the event often crossed the street to use the station’s pay phone and call stories in to their editors.

   Today, Central High sets the standard for diversity and excellence in education. The student body is 50 percent white and 50 percent students of color. The school consistently leads the state in the number of national merit finalists and semifinalists, and as if academics weren’t enough, the football team has won two consecutive state championships.

   Although decades have passed, the legacy of the Little Rock Nine isn’t lost on those who walk the school’s halls today. “Plenty of people around here still remember those years very clearly,” says Principal Nancy Rousseau. “Teachers and counselors at Central [attended high school in Arkansas during those years], so it’s still very much alive. Three of the nine students live in Little Rock now, and they come to the school to visit with students. On the 45th anniversary, three years ago, Minnijean Brown Trickey spoke to the entire student body for over an hour. It was an amazing experience—you could’ve heard a pin drop.”

Scott Kirkwood is senior editor for National Parks magazine.