By the mid-20th century, African-Americans and whites were still kept apart from one another through segregation. Although some stores and railroad companies had removed their "colored" and "white" classifications, many were still questioning why segregation was being allowed to occur in Arkansas. In 1952, the Little Rock Council on Education commented, "the only practical, realistic, and ethical question is integration." In 1954, the landmark case, Brown v. the Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas, ruled segregation illegal and that all school districts should integrate "with all deliberate speed." In the U.S. Congress, Southern members; including all of Arkansas's members, signed a "Southern Manifesto" against desegregation. However, many school districts in Arkansas with small African-American populations begin integrating their schools immediately. State colleges also begin to admit African-American students.
In Little Rock, the Blossom Plan was implemented to integrate the city's schools beginning at the secondary level. In 1957, Central High School was scheduled to enroll several African-American students. Protest by some members of the white community grew. In an anticipation of violence, Gov. Orval Faubus, who supported segregation, called in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the nine African-American students from entering the school. On Sep 4, 1957, students and angry crowds surrounded the school and shouted angry epitaphs at the African-American students. Elizabeth Eckford, the only student to walk alone, remembered that, "It was the longest block I ever walked in my whole life…I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the mob - someone who maybe would help. I looked into the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat on me" The national media had arrived and the whole world was witnessing what was happening in Little Rock. After being refused admittance,
President Dwight Eisenhower tried to negotiate with Faubus. This meeting did not produce any results and a federal court ordered Faubus to withdraw the National Guard. On September 23, the nine students attempted to enter the school again. An angry mob appeared and the safety of the students could not be guaranteed. President Eisenhower intervened and placed the Arkansas National Guard under the command of the U.S. Army. He also brought the U.S. Army's 101st Division to Little Rock and allowed the nine students to enter the school. Central High School was now integrated, but not without a cost. For the first year, the nine students were provoked or threatened with physical abuse. From 1958 to 1959, the high schools in Little Rock were closed by Faubus until the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools urged a special election in 1959 to remove segregationists from the Little Rock School Board. Schools opened again in 1959 but complete integration did not occur until court-ordered busing in the 1970s.
