Memorable Photos From The Ebony Files - integration of public schools, September 4, 1957, Little Rock, Arkansas - Brief Article - Illustration

Ebony, March, 1999

With White hecklers jeering and screaming, Elizabeth Eckford walks away from Little Rock's Central High School on September 4, 1957, after being turned away by Arkansas National Guardsmen. Despite federal court orders, the Guardsmen were instructed by Gov. Orval Faubus not to allow Eckford and eight other Black students (the Little Rock Nine) to enter the school.

Twenty days later, on September 24, the schoolchildren were escorted into Central High by federal troops who were dispatched by President Eisenhower to prevent anyone from interfering with the school's integration. The Little Rock Nine along with newspaper editor and NAACP leader Daisy Bates--played a defining role in a major event that marked a turning point in race relations in America.