The Little Rock Nine

Junior division by Brandon Stewart

In the 1900s, Daisy Bates gathered nine African American students to go to Central High School. Central High was an all-white school and they were the only African American students. Before school began that day, an angry white mob was outside the school waiting for them to arrive. Daisy Bates and the nine students are very brave for what they did. Governor Faubus tried to stop the nine from entering using the National Guard, but President Dwight Eisenhower removed the troops and let the nine students in. This turning point occurred because people were tired of segregated schools and wanted it to end. At the end of the school year, a senior named Ernest Green graduated from Central High and encouraged many other people to attend all-white school. Today, we all have desegregated schools. My topic is The Little Rock Nine and is about what those nine students went through to try to end segregation in public schools in the 1900s, and how hated they were. At the time, Governor Orval Faubus tried to stop the nine from entering by deploying the National Guard for assistance in keeping them out. A group of NAACP lawyers, including, Thurgood Marshall, were against Faubus and won a court case against him that prevented Faubus from keeping the students from entering. Nearly three weeks later, on September 23, 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower removed the troops and allowed the nine students to enter. At the end of that school year, Ernest Green, who was the only Senior amongst the nine students, was the first African American to graduate from Central High. Choosing my topic took some time to decide. Finally, I started the researching the topic and wanted to learn more about the students and what they went through to graduate and desegregate public schools. So, I chose the Little Rock Nine as my topic. I found information from the internet and many video clips. I also read a book from the Sherwood library called The Little Rock Nine by Marshall Poe. I was able to find many pictures from that time period online and newspaper articles from that time period also. I have not created my project yet; but, I plan to take information from my sources and turn them in to a website. Also, I plan to take pictures and video clips from my research and put them all on the website. My project relates to the theme of National History Day because the Little Rock Nine was a major turning point in history. Nine African American students volunteered to go to an allwhite school and attempted to desegregate public schools and give other students courage. They were successful in doing so. Daisy Bates and the nine students are very brave for what they did.