The Little Rock Nine was a group of African American students who on September 4, 1957 went to class at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, and were detained by the National Guard. This episode is considered one of the most important events of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
The United States had for years a segregated educational system for African-Americans, and a much better and efficient one for whites. In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States (Brown v. Board of Education) unanimously declared that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
The Little Rock crisis, followed closely by the press, showed how the nine black students who decided to attend classes were initially prevented from entering school by order of the Arkansas governor, Orval Faubus. Later they were followed by crowds under threats of lynching. They were finally able to attend after the intervention of President Eisenhower, who sent the Army Division 101, putting the Arkansas Military Guard under federal military command.
