The Warren Court (1957-1958). Seated, from left to right: Justices William O. Douglas and Hugo L. Black, and Chief Justice Earl Warren, and Justices Felix Frankfurter and Harold Burton. Standing, from left to right: William J. Brennan, Tom C. Clark, John Marshall Harlan, II, and Charles E. Whittaker.
Arkansas State Capitol, Little Rock, Arkansas
Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
President Eisenhower dispatched the 101st Airborne to escort the "Little Rock Nine" to Central High School.
President Eisenhower dispatched the 101st Airborne to escort the "Little Rock Nine" to Central High School.
President Eisenhower dispatched the 101st Airborne to escort the "Little Rock Nine" to Central High School.
These storied federal paratroopers had fought their way across Europe in World War II and held their ground at the Battle of the Bulge. Now, they were deployed to Little Rock, Arkansas.
Thurgood Marshall
In an unprecedented showing of unanimity, the opinion was signed by each of the nine Justices.
Hours after the case was decided, Governor Faubus leased all of the public schools in Little Rock to a private corporation, which was not bound by the 14th Amendment. After the courts halted this scheme, the government simply closed public schools for the remainder of the year. Indeed, schools throughout the country shut down rather than integrate.
In 1955, the Little Rock, Arkansas, school board approved a plan for gradual integration. However, the so-called “Massive Resistance” spread to Arkansas. Citizens approved an amendment to the state constitution that opposed Brown and desegregation. Based on that amendment, a state court judge issued an injunction against members of the Little Rock school board. They were ordered to stop the implementation of the federal court’s integration plan at Central High School.
In response, a federal district court issued an order to block the state court injunction. The situation escalated quickly. Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent black students from entering Central High School. The National Guard blocked nine African-American students — known as the Little Rock Nine — from entering Central High School. Neither Faubus nor the Guard were bound by the previous court order, which only applied to members of the school board. The situation then escalated further. A federal court enjoined the National Guard from blocking access for the African-American students. In response, the Little Rock Police Department replaced the National Guard. The police had not been included in the prior court order that bound the National Guard.
Two days later, in one of the most dramatic moments of the Civil Rights Movement, President Eisenhower dispatched the 101st Airborne to Arkansas.
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