This Day in the Law
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September 23

The Little Rock Nine Make History (1957)


On September 23, 1957, one of the most significant events in the Civil Rights Movement occurred in Little Rock, Arkansas. Early that morning, the Little Rock Nine made their way to Little Rock Central High School. Just three years after the landmark United States Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (347 U.S. 483), a group of nine African-American students made their way into school, despite the violent mobs that had gathered outside. The Brown decision essentially declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional, based on the fact that it often led to a lack of equality in education.

When the Little Rock Nine arrived at school on September 23, they went in the rear entrance to avoid the violent white mobs. Upon learning that the Little Rock Nine were within the parameters of the school, the white mob erupted into a ballistic riot. They even beat up the black reporters who stood outside in support of the Little Rock Nine. When the mob came in, the police who had been escorting the nine black students were outnumbered, and they all went back out the rear entrance to avoid the violence.

The Little Rock Nine consisted of Melba Beals, Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Thelma Mothershed, Terrence Roberts, and Jefferson Thomas. Ernest Green was the first African-American student to graduate from Central High School.