Items and Collections

Date of Original
1957/1958

Subject
Segregation in education--Law and legislation--United States
Discrimination in education--Law and legislation--United States
African Americans--Civil rights--United States
Segregation--Southern States
Obstruction of justice--Arkansas--Little Rock
Federal-state controversies--Arkansas--Little Rock
Intervention (Federal government)
Executive orders
Federal-city relations--United States
Government, Resistance to--Arkansas--Little Rock
Arkansas--Politics and government--1951-
African Americans--Government policy
United States--Politics and government--1953-1961
Civil rights movement--United States
High school students--Political activity
Central High School (Little Rock, Ark.)
School integration--Arkansas--Little Rock
Mobs--Arkansas--Little Rock
Race riots--Arkansas--Little Rock
School integration--Massive resistance movement

People
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Faubus, Orval Eugene, 1910-1994
Mann, Woodrow Wilson, 1916-2002
Gruenther, Alfred M. (Alfred Maximilian), 1899-1983
Harris, Oren, 1903-
Russell, Richard B. (Richard Brevard), 1897-1971
Brown, W. B.
Stennis, John C. (John Cornelius), 1901-1995
Robinson, Jackie, 1919-1972
Brownell, Herbert, Jr., 1904-1996
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969--Correspondence
Faubus, Orval Eugene, 1910-1994--Correspondence
Mann, Woodrow Wilson, 1916-2002--Correspondence
Gruenther, Alfred M. (Alfred Maximilian), 1899-1983--Correspondence
Harris, Oren, 1903- --Correspondence
Russell, Richard B. (Richard Brevard), 1897-1971--Correspondence
Brown, W. B.--Correspondence
Stennis, John C. (John Cornelius), 1901-1995--Correspondence
Robinson, Jackie, 1919-1972--Correspondence

Location
United States, Arkansas, Pulaski County, Little Rock, 34.74648, -92.28959

Medium
texts (document genres)
press releases
diaries
telegrams
letters (correspondence)
transcripts
reports

Type
Text

Description
This online collection contains a telegram from President Eisenhower to Governor Orval Faubus calling for the peaceful integration of Central High School; a telegram from Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus stating his travel arrangements to meet President Eisenhower for a conference at his vacation headquarters in Rhode Island; a press release stating Governor Faubus' intention of cooperating with the integration of Central High School after his conference with President Eisenhower; a diary entry concerning the September 14, 1957 meeting between President Eisenhower and Governor Faubus in Newport, Rhode Island; a press release statement by President Eisenhower discussing the major events occurring in the City of Little Rock on September 20, 1957; a telegram to President Eisenhower from Woodrow Wilson Mann, Major of Little Rock describing the mob activity at Central High School on September 23, 1957; an Obstruction of Justice Proclamation from President Eisenhower ordering those hindering the integration of Central High to cease and desist; a Proclamation providing for the Removal of an Obstruction of Justice within the State of Arkansas, September 24, 1957; a telegram from Woodrow Wilson Mann to President Eisenhower pleading for federal troops to restore order and complete the integration process in Arkansas; a letter from President Eisenhower to General Alfred Gruenther; handwritten notes by President Eisenhower on decision to send troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, September 1957; a press release, containing speech on radio and television by President Eisenhower, September 24, 1957; an undated draft of speech on Little Rock; a summary of telephone conversations between President Eisenhower and Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Jr. on September 24, 1957 after the Obstruction of Justice Proclamation was issued; a summary of telephone calls made by President Eisenhower on September 25, 1957; a telegram from Congressman Oren Harris of Arkansas to President Eisenhower protesting the ordering of federal troops to enforce school integration; a letter from President Eisenhower to Congressman Oren Harris, September 30, 1957; a telegram from Georgia Senator Richard B. Russell to President Eisenhower condemning the use of federal troops to mix the races in public schools in Little Rock; a letter from President Eisenhower to Senator Russell, September 27, 1957; a telegram from the parents of the nine African-American students to President Eisenhower, October 1, 1957; a letter from President Eisenhower to Mr. W.B. Brown, father of one of the Little Rock Nine on October 4, 1957 [identical letter sent to each set of parents]; a telegram from Senator John Stennis, Mississippi to President Eisenhower, October 1, 1957 deploring forced integration of public schools; a letter from President Eisenhower to Senator Stennis, October 7, 1957; a letter from J. Lee Rankin, U.S. Solicitor General, to Sherman Adams, Assistant to the President, concerning list of Court orders and plans for school desegregation, October 28, 1957; undated attachments to Rankin letter listing court orders and plans for school desegregation; several situation reports between December 17, 1957 and March 10, 1958 regarding Central High?s adjustment after integration; a letter from Jackie Robinson to President Eisenhower, May 13, 1958; and a letter from President Eisenhower to Jackie Robinson, June 4, 1958.
"On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that segregated schools are "inherently unequal." In September 1957, as a result of that ruling, nine African-American students enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The ensuing struggle between segregationists and integrationists, the State of Arkansas and the federal government, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus has become known in modern American history as the "Little Rock Crisis." The crisis gained attention world-wide. When Governor Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School to keep the nine students from entering the school, President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to insure the safety of the "Little Rock Nine" and that the rulings of the Supreme Court were upheld. The manuscript holdings of the Eisenhower Library contain a large amount of documentation on this historic test of the Brown vs. Topeka ruling and school integration."--Eisenhower Library Web page.
The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

Metadata URL
https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/civil-rights-little-rock-school-integration-crisis

Contributing Institution
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Rights