Little Rock Nine
By: Kaley Umstead
5 Facts about Civil Rights:
- Civil Rights Movement began on December 1, 1955.
- All began in Montgomery, Alabama because Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus.
- The Civil Rights Act was originally proposed by President JFK.
- Main goal for Civil Rights included ensuring that people's rights were equally protected by law.
- Also has been called the "Second Reconstruction".
Little Rock Nine:
All about the Little Rock Nine:
Central High School was on of the high schools that blacks were no allowed to attend. Central High School was located in Little Rock, Arkansas. The local leader of NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ), Daisy Bates, recruited nine African-American students to enroll at Central High. These students became known as the Little Rock Nine. They were first black people to be in an ALL white school. The first day of school for the Little Rock Nine didn't go as planned. There were people yelling at them to leave, there was National Guard soldiers blocking their way into the school. The governor, Orval Faubus, had deployed the soldiers to prevent the students from going to school. President Eisenhower finally took action, he sent U.S. Army to protect the Little Rock Nine. Most of the white kids still treated them poorly. One member of the Little Rock Nine couldn't take horrible treatment, so she left. The other eight made it. In 1958, after the first year, the governor, Orval Faubus, closed all the public high schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. The governor thought it was better "to have no school at all than to have integrated schools". Many people blamed the Little Rock Nine for the closing of all public schools. The Little Rock Nine's actions did help the de-segregation of public schools in the South. They are the reason we can go to any school today.
Map of Central High located in Little Rock, Arkansas
What happened to the Little Rock Nine afterwards?
- One of the members named, Melba Patillo grew up to become a reporter for NBC news.
- Terrance Roberts, another member of Little Rock Nine, continued his education and earned his Ph.D. He became a professor at UCLA.
- Ernest Green, one of the most successful out of the Little Rock Nine, worked as Assistant Secretary of Labor for President Jimmy Carter.
Connections:
Rosa Parks connects to the Little Rock Nine. Rosa Parks and the Little Rock Nine were people just trying to make a difference in that challenging time period. Rosa Parks was the reason Civil Rights began. On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger.
Martin Luther King Jr connects to the Little Rock Nine because they both put effort into the segregation issues. Martin Luther King Jr was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Based on his Christian beliefs, he used nonviolent civil disobedience. MLK Jr is really best known for his nonviolent civill disobedience.