Tour the historic Little Rock Central High School and wander in a moment of American history: the end of school segregation and The Little Rock Nine.

I grew up hearing a sentence or two about Little Rock Central High School in history class. Some textbooks even contained the iconic image of Hazel Brown, a teenaged white girl, and the hatred she expressed toward her African-American counterpart, Elizabeth Eckford, as she approached the school. But that’s all I knew until I visited the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Little Rock Central High School. Photo by Teresa Bitler

Touring Little Rock Central High School Site

Although it’s a National Historic Site, Central High still educates roughly 2,500 students every year, which means you’ll spend very little, if any, time in the school itself during your visit. That’s okay, though, because much of the story takes place on the streets surrounding it.

My visit began at the visitor center, located kitty-corner from Central High at Park Street and Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive. Our group met with Jodi Morris, a park ranger and acting chief of interpretation at the time.

After directing us outside, Morris gave some background on the high school. When it opened its doors in 1927, it was the largest and most expensive school ever built. To this day, Central High is considered one of the nation’s most beautiful high schools.

Setting the Stage

We moved to the street corner and paused. Morris reminded us that Arkansas was part of the Confederacy. Following the Civil War, the state adopted a “separate but equal” policy in all things, allowing for segregated schools.

In May 1954, however, the US Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka that separate was not equal and all schools must integrate. Soon after, the school board adopted a plan for gradual integration, beginning with Central High in the fall of 1957, and asked volunteers to attend.

Nearly 200 African-American students signed up even though they couldn’t participate in school sports or activities or take advanced classes such as trigonometry or physics. Based on grades and attendance, the list was pared to 38 students whose names were published. The number quickly dropped to 17. When families learned transportation would not be provided, eight more dropped out. Only nine remained.

“Testament,” a statue depicting the Little Rock Nine. Photo courtesy Little Rock Convention & Visitor Bureau

Tensions Escalate at Little Rock Central High School

Even though the Little Rock School Board agreed to comply, Governor Orval Faubus and the state legislature passed new laws outlawing school integration. On September 2, the day before classes began for the new school year, Governor Faubus summoned the Arkansas National Guard to Central High to prevent the students from entering.

Morris pointed to the preserved historic Magnolia Gas Station directly across Bates Drives from where we stood. She said the media gathered there on September 3 in anticipation of thousands of protesters. Her father, one of the National Guardsmen, called her mom from the telephone there.

Magnolia Gas Station. Photo by Teresa Bitler

Because the governor had warned of violence if the students tried to attend school, the school board advised students not to participate in that day. Ironically, only 150 protestors took to the streets, and the first day of the standoff was primarily peaceful.

Park ranger Jodi Morris shares what happened at Little Rock Central High School. Photo by Teresa Bitler

A Long Walk Down Park Street

However, more protestors arrived the next day, carrying bats, bricks, and ropes. Hoping to dispel some of the ugliness, the school board called the students and told them to wait and walk to school with the police chief and a group of interracial ministers. Elizabeth Eckford didn’t get that call.

“Elizabeth arrives on Park Street,” Morris said, motioning to her starting point. “She doesn’t answer the reporters’ questions as she heads towards the school. She looks calm, stoic, dignified, such a contrast to the crowd.”

I could envision the streets teeming with angry men, women, and students but couldn’t imagine what it would have been like for a teen younger than my daughters to walk that gauntlet of insults.

Morris continued. As Eckford approached the front of the school, National Guardsmen stopped her, telling her that she would not be allowed to enter by the governor’s order. Unable to return the way she came, she headed south. When she arrived at the bus station, her dress was soaked with spittle.

Three Weeks Later at Little Rock Central High School

The Little Rock Nine, as the students became known, stayed home for nearly three weeks until federal courts ordered Governor Faubus to remove the National Guardsmen from the school. On September 23, the police tried to bring students in the back door, but white students rushed out and wouldn’t let them in. The crowd that day numbered approximately 1,000.

Army escorts the Little Rock Nine inside Central High on September 25. Photo courtesy of the National Archives

Morris recounted how President Eisenhower had had enough as she led us to the front of the school. He ordered 1,200 federal troops to Central High, and on September 25, they escorted the African-American students into the school. Once inside, they were on their own, though, enduring shoving, name-calling, and other humiliations.

We climbed the steps to the front door and stepped inside. A display case in the foyer honors the Little Rock Nine. One would be expelled for defending herself against the taunts; the rest would complete the school year, including the school’s first African-American graduate, Ernest Green. (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. attended his graduation.)

Inside the visitor center. Photo courtesy Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau

Little Rock’s Lost Year

Morris told us the fight didn’t end there. In June 1958, citing the students’ harassment, the school board asked the court for permission to delay implementing integration for two years. The appeal went to the Supreme Court, which ruled on September 12 that the Little Rock School Board must continue integrating.

On September 15, Governor Faubus responded by closing all four Little Rock high schools pending a public vote on integration. Meanwhile, white students were able to attend tuition-free segregationist high schools during the Lost Year; African-American students either took the year off, were homeschooled, or joined the military.

In May 1959, another vote replaced three segregationists on the school board with more moderate members, and the board reopened the public high schools that August, a month early. Today, 53 percent of Central High’s students are African-American, 35 percent Western European, 7 percent Asian, and 5 percent Latin American.

Little Rock Central High School Tour Details

Our tour ended there. We returned to the visitor center, where displays recounted the stories Morris had shared. Robin White, the park’s superintendent, points out that there’s “no blaming” on the tour or in the exhibits: “My job is to provide a safe place for people to tell their own narratives.”

Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site Visitor Center. Photo courtesy Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau

The visitor center is open daily from 9 AM to 4 PM. Free guided tours are given Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance, although the park recommends making reservations two weeks in advance. The exact route of the tour depends on school activities that day.

For more information on the exhibits at the visitor center or the tours, visit the Little Rock Central High School National Historical Site webpage or call (501) 374-1957. For more information on visiting Little Rock, Arkansas, see the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau website.