LITTLE ROCK NINE: EVALUATING HISTORICAL SOURCESDesigned by Christy Thomas

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Brown v. Board of Education (1954) declared that “separate but equal” schools were inherently UNequal. The court ordered that the desegregated public schools across the country, but implementing the ruling was another process. In the following pages, you will evaluate a number of images, texts and video footage to understand the situation at Little Rock Central High School.

Little Rock Central High School:

In the fall of 1957, Little Rock became the symbol of state resistance to school desegregation. Arkansas Governor Orval E. Faubus directly questioned the sanctity of the federal court system and the authority of the United States Supreme Court's desegregation ruling while nine African-American high school students sought an education at the all-white Little Rock Central High School.

The controversy in Little Rock was the first fundamental test of the United States resolve to enforce African-American civil rights in the face of massive southern defiance during the period following the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decisions. When President Dwight D. Eisenhower was compelled by white mob violence to use federal troops to ensure the rights of African-American children to attend the previously all-white school, he became the first president since the post-Civil War Reconstruction period to use federal troops in support of African-American civil rights. (Source http://www.nps.gov/chsc/historyculture/index.htm)

Essential Questions:

This chapter examines the historic setting of the Little Rock Nine though a variety of documents. They include news photographs of the events, governor's proclamation, historic essays, Presidential speech, TV news reports and video reflections by participants.

Your task is to understand the context of these documents and decide which are most helpful to your understanding of the conflict.

What do you see as the roots of the conflict?What motivated the different players involved?Which documents do you learn the most from?

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Document 1.1 Gov. Faubus’ State of Emergency Proclamation

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Source: Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries

Crisis of 1957

STATE OF ARKANSASEXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT

PROCLAMATION

TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME --- GREETINGS:

WHEREAS: The Governor of the State of Arkansas is vested with theauthority to order to active duty the Militia of this State in case of tumult, riot or breach of peace, or imminent danger thereof; and

WHEREAS: it has been made known to me, as Governor, from my sources,that there is imminent danger of tumult, riot and breach of the peace and the doing of violence to persons and property in Pulaski County, Arkansas;

NW, THEREFORE, I Orval E. Faubus, Governor of the State of Arkansas, dohereby proclaim that a state of emergency presently exists and I do hereby order to active duty Major General Sherman T. Clinger, the Adjutant General of Arkansas, the State Militia units consisting of the Base Detachment at Adams Field and the State Headquarters Detachment at Camp Robinson, and any other units which may be necessary to accomplish the missionof maintaining or restoring law and order and to preserve the peace, health, safety and security of the citizens of Pulaski County, Arkansas.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the GreatSeal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed. Done in office in the Cityof Little Rock this 2nd day of September, 1957.

[Orval E. Faubus, signature]GOVERNOR

Source: http://scipio.uark.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Civilrights/id/1254

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Document 1.2 Elizabeth & Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock

Prologue: Two Dresses

Early in the morning of September 4, 1957, two girls in Little Rock, Arkansas, each fifteen years old, dressed for school.

On a block of black families nestled in the west side of town, in the small brick house she shared with her parents and five brothers and sisters, Elizabeth Eckford put on a skirt that her older sister, Anna, and she had made just for this day. The immaculate white cotton pique felt cool and soft to the touch; when Elizabeth and Anna, who had labored over it for several weeks, had run out of fabric, they'd trimmed the deep hem with navy blue and white gingham. The new skirt's double rows of gathers made it seem to have tiny pleats, and it appeared especially crisp because Elizabeth had ironed it one last time the night before. Buoyed by the petticoat she wore underneath, it encircled her tiny waist like a bell – one that rang out the tidings of new beginnings. Fashionable and yet modest, descending well below her knees, the pretty skirt was complemented by the rest of what she had chosen to wear that morning: the plain white blouse (which she'd also made), the loafers, the bobby sox. She could just as easily have been going to church, and in a way she was, because for Elizabeth, learning was much more meaningful, and useful, than prayer.

A few miles away, in a house much like Elizabeth's but in a neighborhood that was all white, Hazel Bryan selected something very different. It was a sleek dress of cool mint-green, with a triangular white sash at the top pointing suggestively to her bosom, and a ribbon tied provocatively around her midriff.She'd bought it a few months earlier at one of the "classy" department stores downtown, maybe Blass or Pfeiffer's, with around ten of the scarce dollars her mother earned making lightbulbs at Westinghouse.

What similarities do you see between Elizabeth and Hazel’s actions that morning?

What questions does this document raise in your mind?

Excerpt from Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock, by David Margolick, published October 2011 by Yale University Press. Copyright 2011 by Yale University Press.

http://www.npr.org/books/titles/140953114/elizabeth-and-hazel-two-women-of-little-rock#excerpt

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What do you notice about Elizabeth & Hazel in this photograph?

What emotions do their faces express?

How would you describe the other people in the photograph?

Image source: http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/crandall/CRvisual5.htm

IMAGE 1.1 Student interaction on the way to Central High School

September 4, 1957

Elizabeth Eckford

Hazel Bryan

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Document 1.3 Elizabeth & Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock

Prologue: Two Dresses - continued

Two girls, one black, one white, born less than four months apart, each about to begin eleventh grade. Within a few minutes of each other, they set out for the same destination: Little Rock Central High School. They did not know, nor – in the world of the South in the 1950s – would they have ever encountered, each other before, except perhaps when they rode the same buses or passed on a downtown street or sat – on different levels – in a local movie theater. But within an hour or so they would, and from that moment on, their lives would be inextricably intertwined. For long after that – as long, in fact, as the tortured saga of relations between the races, in the United States and everywhere else, still mattered, or as long, when it came right down to it, as people can see – they would be linked.

When Hazel got home that afternoon, she took off the dress and changed into something more comfortable – boy's jeans, perhaps; they didn't yet make them for girls – and hung it up for the next time. Doubtless, there would be many next times – dances, dates, more school days – to put it on. But when Elizabeth removed her skirt that night, then folded it up and handed it to her mother, she already knew she would never wear it, or even want to see it, again. As everyone else was coming to recognize it – for a time, that simple cotton skirt was just about the most famous piece of clothing in the world – Elizabeth set out to forget about it. It promptly went into the attic, and no one – Elizabeth included – ever laid eyes on it again.

What do you learn about the events of the day from the essay and photo?

How do the essay and photo compare in reliability?

Why do you think the photograph on the preceding page became the image most people associated with Central High School and the desegregation movement?

Excerpt from Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock, by David Margolick, published October 2011 by Yale University Press. Copyright 2011 by Yale University Press.

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Television was a relatively new medium in the 1950s, as most people were used to hearing the news via radio. This presidential address was one of the early Presidential Addresses the general public would have seen.

As you watch the address and read the transcript, compare the effectiveness of the new medium.

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GALLERY 1.1 Text of President Eisenhower’s SpeechMOVIE 1.1 Eisenhower’s Address on Little Rock School Integration Problem

Source video YouTube

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What were Governor Faubus’ political motivations for deploying the National Guard (at 0:17) and then removing the Guard (at 6:00)?

After watching the videos and reading the texts, who do you see as responsible for the Little Rock Crisis? Think about the political stakes involved for President Eisenhower and Governor Faubus leading up to the September events.

MOVIE 1.2 The Little Rock 9 - Arkansas 1957

News footage from 1957 showing actions of Arkansas Governor Earl Faubus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xERXusiEszs

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IMAGE 1.2 101st Airborne soldiers escort black students into Central High School

IMAGE 1.3 Troops of 101st Airborne Escort the Little Rock Nine

Image 9.2: http://scipio.uark.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Civilrights/id/204

What kind of flag is the seated white student holding?

What was the intent of the flag?

Image 9.3: http://scipio.uark.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Civilrights/id/242

How does the caption from Image 9.3 change your interpretation of that day’s events?

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IMAGE 1.4 Central High School White Students Attack Black Effigy

http://scipio.uark.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Civilrights/id/205

IMAGE 1.5 Cartoon Depicting One of the Little Rock Nine

http://scipio.uark.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Civilrights/id/890

These two images show two different perspectives related to how black students were perceived at Little Rock Central High School.

Image 9.4 What do you notice about the crowd’s reaction to the white student attacking the black effigy? What message does the photo send to black students?

Image 9.5 How is the cartoon a contrast to the photograph? What message does the cartoon send to white students?

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What stays the same and/or changes in the reflections from the Little Rock Nine in the two movies?

Features the nine black students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, AR in 1957. Describes the individual achievements of these students during the seven years that followed. Winner of the 1965 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “Best Documentary” Award.

MOVIE 1.3 Little Rock Nine - Reflections in 1964

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUd6dDVCIKs

Members of the Little Rock Nine look back in time and describe their experiences at Central High School in 1954 (footage from the 1990s).

Source: http://www.nps.gov/chsc/historyculture/oral-history.htm

MOVIE 1.4 Little Rock Nine Students - Reflections after 40 years

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IMAGE 1.6 Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division escort African-American students to Central High School

Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division escort African-American students to Central High School in Little Rock in Sept. 1957, after the governor of Arkansas tried to enforce segregation. Photo courtesy National Archiveshttps://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/1402564530/

Essential Questions:

After reviewing the documents, videos and images, you should have an understanding of the context of these documents.

What do you see as the roots of the conflict?

What motivated the different players involved?

Which documents did you learn the most from?

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IMAGE 1.7 Mob Marching from Arkansas State Capitol to Central High School

http://scipio.uark.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Civilrights/id/224

Final Reflection:

As I approached the DBQ assignment, I decided to use images and texts from a literacy class assignment I had just completed. At first, I thought I had a head start, since I had a collection already curated, but as I continued with the assignment I realized I had started in the wrong place. While it was nice to have images and text, I should have started with the essential question AND what I wanted students to experience as they worked through the DBQ.

Working backwards, one of the challenges is finding the essential question that ties everything together. My previous assignment was over a broad topic – the Civil Rights Movement – which I’ve realized is much too broad for a DBQ exercise. Finding the right essential question was key to finding a way to connect the materials together.

The next step was to really think about what I wanted my students to learn as they worked through the DBQ. My first set of materials were loosely related, but would require students to take some large leaps to find the connections. Even with scaffolding questions, it seemed like a stretch. Once I had an essential question identified, then I could focus on the historical thinking skills I wanted students to experience as they worked through the DBQ.

This experience reminds me that the only way to get better at something new is to continue to practice. I have a much better sense of how to organize my thoughts around creating a DBQ and look forward to adding this learning experience to my curriculum development skills. ~ Christy Thomas AboutMe

Complete iBook available free at iTunes

FROM - EXPLORING HISTORY: VOL II

This eBook is a collaborative project of Peter Pappas and his Fall 2014 Social Studies Methods Class School of Education ~ University of Portland, Portland Ore.

Graduate and undergraduate level pre-service teachers were assigned the task of developing an engaging research question, researching supportive documents and curating them into a DBQ suitable for middle or high school students.

For more on this class, visit the course blog EdMethods For more on the assignment and work flow tap here.

Chapters in chronological order1. The American Revolution by Scott Deal

2. The Pig War by Andy Saxton

3. Cesspool of Savagery by Michelle Murphy

4. Chemical War by Erik Nelson

5. Americans’ Perceptions of Immigration in the 1920s by Ceci Brunning and Jenna Bunnell

6. The New Deal and the Art of Public Persuasion by Kari VanKommer

7. Combat Soldiers in Context by Kristi Anne McKenzie

8. The Marshall Plan: Altruism or Pragmatism? by Sam Kimerling

9. Little Rock Nine: Evaluating Historical Sources by Christy Thomas

10. First Ladies as a Political Tool by Emily Strocher

EXPLORING HISTORY: VOL II

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Engaging questions and historic documents empower students to be the historian in the classroom.

Cover image: Replica of old French globeDate:1 January 1, 2013Petar Milošević

Peter Pappas, editor School of Education ~ University of Portland

His popular blog, Copy/Paste features downloads of his instructional resources, projects and publications. Follow him at Twitter @edteck. His other multi-touch eBooks are available at here. For an example of one of his eBook design training workshops tap here.

CC BY-NC 3.0 Peter Pappas and Christy Thomas, 2014

The authors take copyright infringement seriously. If any copyright holder has been inadvertently or unintentionally overlooked, the publisher will be pleased to remove the said material from this book at the very first opportunity.

xviSource