Little Rock Nine - wikipedia Little Rock Nine Little Rock Crisis Part of the Civil Rights Movement The `` Little Rock Nine '' are escorted inside Little Rock Central High School by troops of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. Location Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas Caused by Racial segregation in public schools Brown v. Board of Education ( 1954 ) Resulted in Cooper v. Aaron ( 1958 ) Parties to the civil conflict National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) Little Rock Nine Governor of Arkansas Lead figures NAACP member Daisy Bates Little Rock Nine Melba Pattillo Beals Minnijean Brown Elizabeth Eckford Ernest Green Gloria Ray Karlmark Carlotta Walls LaNier Thelma Mothershed Terrence Roberts Jefferson Thomas State of Arkansas Orval Faubus, governor This article is part of a series about Dwight D. Eisenhower Early Life Military Career World War II Supreme Allied Commander in Europe D - Day Operation Overlord Surrender of Germany VE - Day Crusade in Europe President of the United States Presidency First Term Draft movement 1952 Campaign Election 1st Inauguration Korean War Atoms for Peace Cold War New Look Domino theory Interstate Highway System Second Term 1956 campaign Election 2nd Inauguration Eisenhower Doctrine Sputnik crisis Missile gap NDEA NASA DARPA Civil Rights Act of 1957 Little Rock Nine U-2 incident Farewell Address Post-Presidency Legacy Presidential library and museum Tributes and memorials The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. They then attended after the intervention of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The U.S. Supreme Court issued its historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483, on May 17, 1954. Tied to the 14th Amendment, the decision declared all laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional, and it called for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation. After the decision, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) attempted to register black students in previously all - white schools in cities throughout the South. In Little Rock, the capital city of Arkansas, the Little Rock School Board agreed to comply with the high court 's ruling. Virgil Blossom, the Superintendent of Schools, submitted a plan of gradual integration to the school board on May 24, 1955, which the board unanimously approved. The plan would be implemented during the fall of the 1957 school year, which would begin in September 1957. By 1957, the NAACP had registered nine black students to attend the previously all - white Little Rock Central High, selected on the criteria of excellent grades and attendance. Called the `` Little Rock Nine '', they were Ernest Green ( b. 1941 ), Elizabeth Eckford ( b. 1941 ), Jefferson Thomas ( 1942 -- 2010 ), Terrence Roberts ( b. 1941 ), Carlotta Walls LaNier ( b. 1942 ), Minnijean Brown ( b. 1941 ), Gloria Ray Karlmark ( b. 1942 ), Thelma Mothershed ( b. 1940 ), and Melba Pattillo Beals ( b. 1941 ). Ernest Green was the first African American to graduate from Central High School. Contents 1 The Blossom Plan 2 National Guard blockade 3 Armed escort 4 A tense year 5 `` The Lost Year '' 6 Motivations 7 Legacy 8 See also 9 Footnotes 10 References 10.1 Historiography 10.2 Primary sources 10.3 External links The Blossom plan One of the plans created during attempts to desegregate the schools of Little Rock was by school superintendent Virgil Blossom. The initial approach proposed substantial integration beginning quickly and extending to all grades within a matter of many years. This original proposal was scrapped and replaced with one that more closely met a set of minimum standards worked out in attorney Richard B. McCulloch 's brief. This finalized plan would start in September 1957 and would integrate one high school, Little Rock Central. The second phase of the plan would take place in 1960 and would open up a few junior high schools to a few black children. The final stage would involve limited desegregation of the city 's grade schools at an unspecified time, possibly as late as 1963. This plan was met with varied reactions from the NAACP branch of Little Rock. Militant members like the Bateses opposed the plan on the grounds that it was `` vague, indefinite, slow - moving and indicative of an intent to stall further on public integration. '' Despite this view, the majority accepted the plan ; most felt that Blossom and the school board should have the chance to prove themselves, that the plan was reasonable, and that the white community would accept it. This view was short lived, however. Changes were made to the plan, the most detrimental being a new transfer system that would allow students to move out of the attendance zone to which they were assigned. The unaltered Blossom Plan had gerrymandered school districts to guarantee a black majority at Horace Mann High and a white majority at Hall High. This meant that, even though black students lived closer to Central, they would be placed in Horace Mann thus confirming the intention of the school board to limit the impact of desegregation. The altered plan gave white students the choice of not attending Horace Mann, but did n't give black students the option of attending Hall. This new Blossom Plan did not sit well with the NAACP and after failed negotiations with the school board ; the NAACP filed a lawsuit on February 8, 1956. This lawsuit, along with a number of other factors contributed to the Little Rock School Crisis of 1957. National Guard blockade Main article : Arkansas National Guard and the integration of Central High School Several segregationist councils threatened to hold protests at Central High and physically block the black students from entering the school. Governor Orval Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the segregationists on September 4, 1957. The sight of a line of soldiers blocking out the students made national headlines and polarized the nation. Regarding the accompanying crowd, one of the nine students, Elizabeth Eckford, recalled : They moved closer and closer... Somebody started yelling... I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the crowd -- someone who maybe could 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. On September 9, the Little Rock School District issued a statement condemning the governor 's deployment of soldiers to the school, and called for a citywide prayer service on September 12. Even President Dwight Eisenhower attempted to de-escalate the situation by summoning Faubus for a meeting, warning him not to defy the Supreme Court 's ruling. Armed escort Young U.S. Army paratrooper in battle gear outside Central High School, on the cover of Time magazine ( October 7, 1957 ) Woodrow Wilson Mann, the mayor of Little Rock, asked President Eisenhower to send federal troops to enforce integration and protect the nine students. On September 24, the President ordered the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army -- without its black soldiers, who rejoined the division a month later -- to Little Rock and federalized the entire 10,000 - member Arkansas National Guard, taking it out of the hands of Faubus. A tense Year By the end of September 1957, the nine were admitted to Little Rock Central High under the protection of the 101st Airborne Division ( and later the Arkansas National Guard ), but they were still subjected to a year of physical and verbal abuse ( being spat on and called names ) by many of the white students. Melba Pattillo had acid thrown into her eyes and also recalled in her book, Warriors Do n't Cry, an incident in which a group of white girls trapped her in a stall in the girls ' washroom and attempted to burn her by dropping pieces of flaming paper on her from above. Another one of the students, Minnijean Brown, was verbally confronted and abused. She said I was one of the kids ' approved ' by the school officials. We were told we would have to take a lot and were warned not to fight back if anything happened. One girl ran up to me and said, ' I 'm so glad you 're here. Wo n't you go to lunch with me today ? ' I never saw her again. Minnijean Brown was also taunted by members of a group of white male students in December 1957 in the school cafeteria during lunch. She dropped her lunch, a bowl of chili, onto the boys and was suspended for six days. Two months later, after more confrontation, Brown was suspended for the rest of the school year. She transferred to New Lincoln High School in New York City. As depicted in the 1981 made - for - TV docudrama Crisis at Central High, and as mentioned by Melba Pattillo Beals in Warriors Do n't Cry, white students were punished only when their offense was `` both egregious and witnessed by an adult ''. The drama was based on a book by Elizabeth Huckaby, a vice-principal during the crisis. `` The Lost Year '' In the summer of 1958, as the school year was drawing to a close, Faubus decided to petition the decision by the Federal District Court in order to postpone the desegregation of public high schools in Little Rock. In the Cooper v. Aaron case, the Little Rock School District, under the leadership of Orval Faubus, fought for a two and a half year delay on de-segregation, which would have meant that black students would only be permitted into public high schools in January 1961. Faubus argued that if the schools remained integrated there would be an increase in violence. However, in August 1958, the Federal Courts ruled against the delay of de-segregation, which incited Faubus to call together an Extraordinary Session of the State Legislature on August 26 in order to enact his segregation bills. Claiming that Little Rock had to assert their rights and freedom against the federal decision, in September 1958, Faubus signed acts that enabled him and the Little Rock School District to close all public schools. Thus, with this bill signed, on Monday September 15, Faubus ordered the closure of all four public high schools, preventing both black and white students from attending school. Despite Faubus 's decree, the town 's population had the chance of refuting the bill since the school - closing law necessitated a referendum. The referendum, which would either condone or condemn Faubus 's law, was to take place within thirty days. A week before the referendum, which was scheduled to take place on September 27, Faubus addressed the citizens of Little Rock in an attempt to secure their votes. Faubus urged the population to vote against integration since he was planning on leasing the public school buildings to private schools, and, in doing so, would educate the white and black students separately. Faubus was successful in his appeal and won the referendum. This year came to be known as the `` Lost Year. '' Faubus 's victory led to a series of consequences that affected Little Rock society. Faubus 's intention to open private schools was denied the same day the referendum took place, which caused some citizens of Little Rock to turn on the black community. The black community became a target for hate crimes since people blamed them for the closing of the schools. Daisy Bates, head of the NAACP chapter in Little Rock, was a primary victim to these crimes, in addition to the black students enrolled at Little Rock Central High School and their families. The town 's teachers were also placed in a difficult position. They were forced to swear loyalty to Faubus 's bills. Even though Faubus 's idea of private schools never played out, the teachers were still expected to attend school every day and prepare for the possibility of their students ' return. The teachers were completely under Faubus 's control and the many months that the school stayed empty only served as a cause for uncertainty in their professional futures. In May 1959, after the firing of forty - four teachers and administrative staff from the four high schools, three segregationist board members were replaced with three moderate ones. The new board members reinstated the forty - four staff members to their positions. The new board of directors then began an attempt to reopen the schools, much to Faubus 's dismay. In order to avoid any further complications, the public high schools were scheduled to open earlier than usual, on August 12, 1959. Although the Lost Year had come to a close, the black students who returned to the high schools were not welcomed by the other students. Rather, the black students had a difficult time getting past mobs to enter the school, and, once inside, they were often subject to physical and emotional abuse. The students were back at school and everything would eventually resume normal function, but the Lost Year would be a pretext for new hatred towards the black students in the public high school. Motivations This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2011 ) Faubus 's opposition to desegregation was likely both politically and racially motivated. Although Faubus had indicated that he would consider bringing Arkansas into compliance with the high court 's decision in 1956, desegregation was opposed by his own southern Democratic Party, which dominated all Southern politics at the time. Faubus risked losing political support in the upcoming 1958 Democratic gubernatorial primary if he showed support for integration. Most histories of the crisis conclude that Faubus, facing pressure as he campaigned for a third term, decided to appease racist elements in the state by calling out the National Guard to prevent the black students from entering Central High. Former associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court James D. Johnson claimed to have hoaxed Governor Faubus into calling out the National Guard, supposedly to prevent a white mob from stopping the integration of Little Rock Central High School : `` There was n't any caravan. But we made Orval believe it. We said. ' They 're lining up. They 're coming in droves. '... The only weapon we had was to leave the impression that the sky was going to fall. '' He later claimed that Faubus asked him to raise a mob to justify his actions. Harry Ashmore, the editor of the Arkansas Gazette, won a 1958 Pulitzer Prize for his editorials on the crisis. Ashmore portrayed the fight over Central High as a crisis manufactured by Faubus ; in his interpretation, Faubus used the Arkansas National Guard to keep black children out of Central High School because he was frustrated by the success his political opponents were having in using segregationist rhetoric to stir white voters. Congressman Brooks Hays, who tried to mediate between the federal government and Faubus, was later defeated by a last minute write - in candidate, Dale Alford, a member of the Little Rock School Board who had the backing of Faubus 's allies. A few years later, despite the incident with the `` Little Rock Nine '', Faubus ran as a moderate segregationist against Dale Alford, who was challenging Faubus for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1962. Little Rock Nine Memorial Memorial closeup of Eckford Legacy External video Booknotes interview with Melba Patillo Beals on Warriors Do n't Cry, November 27, 1994, C - SPAN A commemorative silver dollar Memorial at Arkansas State Capitol Three members of the `` Little Rock Nine '' ( L-R ) Ernest Green, Carlotta Walls LaNier, and Terrence Roberts - stand together on the steps of the LBJ Presidential Library in 2014 Little Rock Central High School still functions as part of the Little Rock School District, and is now a National Historic Site that houses a Civil Rights Museum, administered in partnership with the National Park Service, to commemorate the events of 1957. The Daisy Bates House, home to Daisy Bates, then the president of the Arkansas NAACP and a focal point for the students, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2001 for its role in the episode. In 1958, Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén published `` Little Rock '', a bilingual composition in English and Spanish denouncing the racial segregation in the United States. Melba Pattillo Beals wrote a memoir titled Warriors Do n't Cry, published in the mid-1990s. Two made - for - television movies have depicted the events of the crisis : the 1981 CBS movie Crisis at Central High, and the 1993 Disney Channel movie The Ernest Green Story. In 1996, seven of the Little Rock Nine appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. They came face to face with a few of the white students who had tormented them as well as one student who had befriended them. President Bill Clinton honored the Little Rock Nine in November 1999 when he presented them each with a Congressional Gold Medal. The medal is the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress. It is given to those who have provided outstanding service to the country. To receive the Congressional Gold Medal, recipients must be co-sponsored by two - thirds of both the House and Senate. In 2007, the United States Mint made available a commemorative silver dollar to `` recognize and pay tribute to the strength, the determination and the courage displayed by African - American high school students in the fall of 1957. '' The obverse depicts students accompanied by a soldier, with nine stars symbolizing the Little Rock Nine. The reverse depicts an image of Little Rock Central High School, c. 1957. Proceeds from the coin sales are to be used to improve the National Historic Site. On December 9, 2008, the Little Rock Nine were invited to attend the inauguration of President - elect Barack Obama, the first African - American to be elected President of the United States. On February 9, 2010, Marquette University honored the group by presenting them with the Père Marquette Discovery Award, the university 's highest honor, one that had previously been given to Mother Teresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Karl Rahner, and the Apollo 11 astronauts, among other notables. See also Black school Stand in the Schoolhouse Door Little Rock ( poem ) Nine from Little Rock, an Academy Award winning documentary film about the Little Rock Nine Fables of Faubus, a song written by jazz bassist Charles Mingus Footnotes Jump up ^ Brown v. Topeka Board of Education ( U.S. 1954 ). Text. ^ Jump up to : Rains, Craig. `` Little Rock Central High 40th Anniversary ''... Jump up ^ Tony A. Freyer, `` Politics and Law in the Little Rock Crisis, 1954 -- 1957, '' The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 60 / 2, ( Summer 2007 ) : 148 ^ Jump up to : Tony A. Freyer, `` Politics and Law in the Little Rock Crisis, 1954 -- 1957, '' The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 60 / 2, ( Summer 2007 ) : 149 ^ Jump up to : John A. Kirk, `` The Little Rock Crisis and Postwar Black Activism in Arkansas, '' The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 60 / 2, ( Summer 2007 ) : 239 Jump up ^ Boyd, Herb ( September 27, 2007 ). `` Little Rock Nine paved the way ''. New York Amsterdam News. 98 ( 40 ). Retrieved March 4, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Retreat from Newport ''. Time. September 23, 1957... Jump up ^ Smith, Jean Edward ( 2012 ). Eisenhower in War and Peace. Random House. p. 723. ISBN 978 - 0 - 679 - 64429 - 3. Jump up ^ `` Melba Pattillo Beals ''. Teachers ' Domain. WGBH Educational Foundation. Retrieved February 2, 2008. Jump up ^ Brown, Minnijean ; Moskin, J. Robert ( June 24, 1958 ). `` One Girl 's Little Rock Story ''. Look. Jump up ^ Collins, Janelle ( Fall 2008 ). `` Easing a Country 's Conscience : Little Rock 's Central High School in Film ''. The Southern Quarterly. The University of Southern Mississippi. Retrieved August 2, 2009. Jump up ^ Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock : A Memoir. New York : David McKay, 1962, p. 151. Jump up ^ Gordy, Sondra. `` Empty Hearts : Little Rock Secondary Teachers, 1958 -- 1959 ''. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 1997, p. 428. Jump up ^ Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock : A Memoir. New York : David McKay, 1962, p. 152. Jump up ^ Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock : A Memoir. New York : David McKay, 1962, p. 154. ^ Jump up to : Gordy, Sondra. `` Empty Hearts : Little Rock Secondary Teachers, 1958 -- 1959 ''. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 1997, p. 429. Jump up ^ Gordy, Sondra. `` Empty Hearts : Little Rock Secondary Teachers, 1958 -- 1959 ''. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 1997, p. 431. Jump up ^ Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock : A Memoir. New York : David McKay, 1962, p. 155. Jump up ^ Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock : A Memoir. New York : David McKay, 1962. p. 159. Jump up ^ Gordy, Sondra. `` Empty Hearts : Little Rock Secondary Teachers, 1958 -- 1959 ''. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 1997, p. 436. Jump up ^ Gordy, Sondra. `` Empty Hearts : Little Rock Secondary Teachers, 1958 -- 1959 ''. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 1997, p. 441. ^ Jump up to : Gordy, Sondra. `` Empty Hearts : Little Rock Secondary Teachers, 1958 -- 1959 ''. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 1997, p. 442. Jump up ^ Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock : A Memoir. New York : David McKay, 1962, p. 165. Jump up ^ `` Little Rock Nine ''. Originalpeople. Retrieved May 6, 2015. Jump up ^ Williams, Juan ( March 18, 2007 ). `` Showdown over Segregation ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved May 6, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Racist `` Justice '' is dead, but not gone ``. Salon. February 18, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Pulitzer Prize Winners 1958 ''. the Pulitzer Board. Retrieved September 7, 2011. Jump up ^ Profiles in Hue. Xlibris Corporation. January 17, 2011. p. 366. ISBN 1456851209. Retrieved May 6, 2015. Jump up ^ United States National Park Service, Little Rock Central High School, National Historic Site. Jump up ^ `` NHL nomination for Daisy Bates House '' ( PDF ). National Park Service. Retrieved October 27, 2014. Jump up ^ Guillén, Nicolás ; Márquez, Robert ; McMurray, David Arthur ( August 2003 ). Man - making words : selected poems of Nicolás Guillén. Univ of Massachusetts Press. pp. 58 -- 61. ISBN 978 - 1 - 55849 - 410 - 7. Retrieved September 7, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Little Rock Nine ''. November 9, 1999. Retrieved August 28, 2012. Jump up ^ `` We 've Completed Our Mission ''. Washington Post, December 13, 2009, p. B01. References Anderson, Karen. Little Rock : Race and Resistance at Central High School ( 2013 ) Baer, Frances Lisa. Resistance to Public School Desegregation : Little Rock, Arkansas, and Beyond ( 2008 ) 328 pp. ISBN 978 - 1 - 59332 - 260 - 1 Beals, Melba Pattillo. Warriors Do n't Cry : A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock 's Central High. ( ISBN 0 - 671 - 86638 - 9 ) Branton, Wiley A. `` Little Rock Revisited : Desegregation to Resegregation. '' Journal of Negro Education 1983 52 ( 3 ) : 250 -- 269. ISSN 0022 - 2984 Fulltext in Jstor Jacoway, Elizabeth. Turn Away Thy Son : Little Rock, the Crisis That Shocked the Nation ( 2007 ). Kirk, John A. `` Not Quite Black and White : School Desegregation in Arkansas, 1954 - 1966, '' Arkansas Historical Quarterly ( 2011 ) 70 # 3 pp 225 -- 257 in JSTOR Kirk, John A., ed. An Epitaph for Little Rock : A Fiftieth Anniversary Retrospective on the Central High Crisis ( University of Arkansas Press, 2008 ). Kirk, John A. Beyond Little Rock : The Origins and Legacies of the Central High Crisis ( University of Arkansas Press, 2007 ). Kirk, John A., Redefining the Color Line : Black Activism in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1940 -- 1970 ( University of Florida Press, 2002 ). Reed, Roy. Faubus : The Life and Times of an American Prodigal ( 1997 ). Lanier, Carlotta, A Mighty Long Way : My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School, Random House, 2009 Historiography Pierce, Michael. `` Historians of the Central High Crisis and Little Rock 's Working - Class Whites : A Review Essay, '' Arkansas Historical Quarterly ( 2011 ) 70 # 4 pp. 468 -- 483 in JSTOR Primary sources Faubus, Orval Eugene. Down from the Hills. Little Rock : Democrat Printing & Lithographing, 1980. 510 pp. autobiography. External links `` Through a Lens, Darkly, '' by David Margolick. Vanity Fair, September 24, 2007. The Tiger, Student Paper of Little Rock Central High. The Legacy of Little Rock on Time.com ( a division of Time Magazine ) Guardians of Freedom -- 50th Anniversary of Operation Arkansas, by United States Army Letters from U.S. citizens regarding the Little Rock Crisis, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library Documents regarding the Little Rock Crisis, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library National Park Service. Little Rock Central High School, National Historic Site. Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture entry : Little Rock Nine `` From Canterbury to Little Rock : The Struggle for Educational Equality for African Americans '', a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places ( TwHP ) lesson plan Letter by segregationist lawyer Amis Guthridge Defending Segregation to Little Rock School Board and Superintendent Blossom, July 10, 1957. McMillen, Neil R. ( Summer 1971 ). `` White Citizens ' Council and Resistance to School Desegregation in Arkansas '' ( PDF ). The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. Arkansas Historical Association. 30 ( 2 ) : 95 -- 122. Sandra Hubbard ; Dr. Sondra Gordy. `` The Lost Year ''. a documentary, entitled `` The Lost Year '' by Sandra Hubbard and a book, entitled `` Finding the Lost Year '' By Dr. Gordy. An account by teachers and classmates of the closed high schools of Little Rock after the Crisis at Central High and the Little Rock Nine. African - American Civil Rights Movement ( 1954 -- 1968 ) Notable events ( timeline ) 1954 -- 1959 Brown v. Board of Education Bolling v. Sharpe Briggs v. Elliott Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County Gebhart v. Belton Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company Emmett Till Montgomery bus boycott Browder v. Gayle Tallahassee bus boycott Mansfield school desegregation 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom `` Give Us the Ballot '' Royal Ice Cream Sit - in Little Rock Nine National Guard blockade Civil Rights Act of 1957 Kissing Case Biloxi Wade - Ins 1960 -- 1963 Greensboro sit - ins Nashville sit - ins Sit - in movement Civil Rights Act of 1960 Gomillion v. Lightfoot Boynton v. Virginia Rock Hill sit - ins Robert F. Kennedy 's Law Day Address Freedom Rides attacks Garner v. Louisiana Albany Movement University of Chicago sit - ins `` Second Emancipation Proclamation '' Meredith enrollment, Ole Miss riot `` Segregation now, segregation forever '' Stand in the Schoolhouse Door 1963 Birmingham campaign Letter from Birmingham Jail Children 's Crusade Birmingham riot 16th Street Baptist Church bombing John F. Kennedy 's Report to the American People on Civil Rights March on Washington `` I Have a Dream '' St. Augustine movement 1964 -- 1968 Twenty - fourth Amendment Bloody Tuesday Freedom Summer workers ' murders Civil Rights Act of 1964 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches `` How Long, Not Long '' Voting Rights Act of 1965 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections March Against Fear White House Conference on Civil Rights Chicago Freedom Movement / Chicago open housing movement Memphis Sanitation Strike King assassination funeral riots Poor People 's Campaign Civil Rights Act of 1968 Green v. County School Board of New Kent County Activist groups Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights Atlanta Student Movement Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Congress of Racial Equality ( CORE ) Committee on Appeal for Human Rights Council for United Civil Rights Leadership Dallas County Voters League Deacons for Defense and Justice Georgia Council on Human Relations Highlander Folk School Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Montgomery Improvement Association Nashville Student Movement NAACP Youth Council Northern Student Movement National Council of Negro Women National Urban League Operation Breadbasket Regional Council of Negro Leadership Southern Christian Leadership Conference ( SCLC ) Southern Regional Council Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) The Freedom Singers Wednesdays in Mississippi Women 's Political Council Activists Ralph Abernathy Victoria Gray Adams Zev Aelony Mathew Ahmann William G. Anderson Gwendolyn Armstrong Arnold Aronson Ella Baker Marion Barry Daisy Bates Harry Belafonte James Bevel Claude Black Gloria Blackwell Randolph Blackwell Unita Blackwell Ezell Blair Jr. Joanne Bland Julian Bond Joseph E. Boone William Holmes Borders Amelia Boynton Raylawni Branch Ruby Bridges Aurelia Browder H. Rap Brown Guy Carawan Stokely Carmichael Johnnie Carr James Chaney J.L. Chestnut Colia Lafayette Clark Ramsey Clark Septima Clark Xernona Clayton Eldridge Cleaver Kathleen Neal Cleaver Charles E. Cobb Jr. Annie Lee Cooper Dorothy Cotton Claudette Colvin Vernon Dahmer Jonathan Daniels Joseph DeLaine Dave Dennis Annie Devine Patricia Stephens Due Charles Evers Medgar Evers Myrlie Evers - Williams Chuck Fager James Farmer Walter E. Fauntroy James Forman Marie Foster Golden Frinks Andrew Goodman Fred Gray Jack Greenberg Dick Gregory Lawrence Guyot Prathia Hall Fannie Lou Hamer William E. Harbour Vincent Harding Dorothy Height Lola Hendricks Aaron Henry Oliver Hill Donald L. Hollowell James Hood Myles Horton Zilphia Horton T.R.M. Howard Ruby Hurley Jesse Jackson Jimmie Lee Jackson Richie Jean Jackson T.J. Jemison Esau Jenkins Barbara Rose Johns Vernon Johns Frank Minis Johnson Clarence Jones Matthew Jones Vernon Jordan Tom Kahn Clyde Kennard A.D. King C.B. King Coretta Scott King Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Sr. Bernard Lafayette James Lawson Bernard Lee Sanford R. Leigh Jim Letherer Stanley Levison John Lewis Viola Liuzzo Z. Alexander Looby Joseph Lowery Clara Luper Malcolm X Mae Mallory Vivian Malone Thurgood Marshall Benjamin Mays Franklin McCain Charles McDew Ralph McGill Floyd McKissick Joseph McNeil James Meredith William Ming Jack Minnis Amzie Moore Douglas E. Moore William Lewis Moore Irene Morgan Bob Moses William Moyer Elijah Muhammad Diane Nash Charles Neblett Edgar Nixon Jack O'Dell James Orange Rosa Parks James Peck Charles Person Homer Plessy Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Fay Bellamy Powell Al Raby Lincoln Ragsdale A. Philip Randolph George Raymond Jr. Bernice Johnson Reagon Cordell Reagon James Reeb Frederick D. Reese Gloria Richardson David Richmond Bernice Robinson Jo Ann Robinson Bayard Rustin Bernie Sanders Michael Schwerner Cleveland Sellers Charles Sherrod Alexander D. Shimkin Fred Shuttlesworth Modjeska Monteith Simkins Glenn E. Smiley A. Maceo Smith Kelly Miller Smith Mary Louise Smith Maxine Smith Ruby Doris Smith - Robinson Charles Kenzie Steele Hank Thomas Dorothy Tillman A.P. Tureaud Hartman Turnbow Albert Turner C.T. Vivian Wyatt Tee Walker Hollis Watkins Walter Francis White Roy Wilkins Hosea Williams Kale Williams Robert F. Williams Andrew Young Whitney Young Sammy Younge Jr. James Zwerg Influences Nonviolence Padayatra Sermon on the Mount Mohandas K. Gandhi Ahimsa Satyagraha The Kingdom of God is Within You Frederick Douglass W.E.B. Du Bois Related Jim Crow laws Plessy v. Ferguson Separate but equal Buchanan v. Warley Hocutt v. Wilson Sweatt v. Painter Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States Katzenbach v. McClung Loving v. Virginia Fifth Circuit Four Brown Chapel Holt Street Baptist Church Edmund Pettus Bridge March on Washington Movement African - American churches attacked Journey of Reconciliation Freedom Songs `` Kumbaya '' `` Keep Your Eyes on the Prize '' `` Oh, Freedom '' `` This Little Light of Mine '' `` We Shall Not Be Moved '' `` We Shall Overcome '' Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam `` Beyond Vietnam : A Time to Break Silence '' Watts riots Voter Education Project 1960s counterculture In popular culture King Memorial Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument Freedom Riders National Monument Civil Rights Memorial Noted historians Taylor Branch Clayborne Carson John Dittmer Michael Eric Dyson Chuck Fager Adam Fairclough David Garrow David Halberstam Vincent Harding Steven F. Lawson Doug McAdam Diane McWhorter Charles M. Payne Timothy Tyson Akinyele Umoja Movement photographers Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_Rock_Nine&oldid=804842492 '' Categories : Little Rock Nine History of racism in the United States Congressional Gold Medal recipients History of Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock Central High School Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower School segregation in the United States Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from October 2010 Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages Use mdy dates from October 2017 Pages using deprecated image syntax Wikipedia articles needing clarification from August 2014 Articles needing additional references from August 2011 All articles needing additional references Talk View source Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Français 한국어 Italiano עברית Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Русский Simple English Svenska 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 11 October 2017, at 13 : 33. 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Question: who are the little rock nine and what did they do
Answer: a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957