Little Rock Nine and the 1957 Central High Crisis

On September 4, 1957, the front steps of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, became the stage for one of the most dramatic confrontations of the Civil Rights era. Nine African American teenagers, known now as the Little Rock Nine, tried to attend school like any other students. Instead, they found themselves blocked by the Arkansas National Guard and surrounded by an angry mob. Governor Orval Faubus called it a matter of public safety. The federal courts called it a violation of the Constitution. And President Dwight Eisenhower would soon make it clear that the federal government wasn’t backing down. What happened that day set off a showdown between state defiance and federal authority, between hate and the promise of equal education. In this episode, we’ll look at the day Little Rock Central High became a national battleground, and the courage of the nine students who walked into history.