February 17, 2016
Seventeen African American students were selected to attend the all white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 but by opening day the number had dwindled to nine. Pictured here with Daisy Bates, a newspaper journalist and active member in the local NAACP, are nine students, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Elizabeth Eckford, Terrace Roberts, Carlotta Walls, Gloria Ray, Jefferson Thomas, Melba Pattillo, and Minnijean Brown. Bates would become the advisor for the nine students. The day before school opened, Governor Orval Faubus called the National Guard to surround Central High, declaring “blood would run in the streets” if blacks students attempted to enter.
Stories this photo appears in:
National Museum of American History Adds Little Rock Nine Objects
The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has added more than 20 objects to the national collections, including a Little Rock Central High School year book, a graduation dress, a personal letter from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a notice of suspension and photographs, from Minnijean Brown Trickey, who is known as one of the Little Rock Nine.