Why did Congress award the Little Rock Nine the congressional Gold medal in 1999?
Answer 9: President Bill Clinton awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999, the highest civilian honor, to the originally called the "Little Rock Nine", that was a group of nine African American students who on September 4, 1957 went to class at the previously all-white Little Rock Central High School and helped integrate that Arkansas school.
They were Thelma Mothershed (b. 1940), Melba Pattillo Beals (b. 1941), Minnijean Brown (b. 1941), Ernest Green (b. 1941), Elizabeth Eckford (b. 1941), Terrence Roberts (b. 1941), Jefferson Thomas (1942–2010), Carlotta Walls LaNier (b. 1942), and Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942). Ernest Green was the first African-American to graduate from Central High School.
Answer 10: They were prevented from entering the racially segregated school by order of Arkansas Governor, the racist Orval Faubus. They were finally able to attend after the intervention of President Eisenhower, who sent Division 101, putting the Arkansas Military Guard under federal military command.