At Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site in Arkansas, exhibits tell the story of those times, and interactive oral history stations give you a chance to hear the people who were there tell the story in their own words.
The Commemorative Garden, adjacent to both the visitor center on South Park Street and the north side of Little Rock Central High School, documents a photographic history, inlaid on brick and concrete arches, as a reminder of the bravery of the Little Rock Nine and a legacy of Central High School. Within this space are nine benches and nine trees to provide seating and shade for a visitor to sit and reflect in this tranquil landscape.
The Elizabeth Eckford Bus Bench, located on the northeast corner of S. Park Street and 16th Street, is a replica from the 1957 desegregation crisis and a place for contemplative reflection.
The Daisy and L.C. Bates Home is nationally significant for its role as the de facto command post during the Central High School desegregation crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas.
On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka unanimously ruled that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. This was a major turning point in the fight for public school desegregation.
Little Rock Central High School, a functioning 9th - 12th grade facility, is a combined Collegiate Gothic and Art Deco style building that covers much of two city blocks and contains over 150,000 square feet. The school is closed to the public.
The historic Magnolia Mobil Gas Station at the southeast corner of South Park Street/West Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive and across the street from Central High School’s campus played an important role in the 1957 desegregation crisis. This service station was one of the few businesses in the immediate neighborhood which had a pay telephone on site, so by default it served as the media headquarters for newspaper journalists, radio correspondents and television reporters.
The northwest corner of Park Street and W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive (formerly 14th Street) is a stop on the Little Rock Central High School NHS self-guided audio tour. From this location on September 4, 1957, members of the Little Rock Nine and minsters would gather before attempting to integrate Central High School for the first time in its history.
Adjacent to the North Curvilinear Front Sidewalk at Central High School is the location where Elizabeth Eckford is first identified by segregationists and converged upon as she proceeds down Park Street on September 4, 1957 - the first attempt to integrate Little Rock Central High School.
Near this location, Elizabeth Eckford (one of the Little Rock Nine) is turned away and denied entrance on to the grounds of Central High School for a second time by Arkansas National Guardsmen; this first attempt to integrate Little Rock Central High School occurs on September 4, 1957.
When it was built in 1929, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Little Rock was the most modern and complete high school constructed for African Americans in the state. It became known as "The Finest High School for Negro Boys and Girls in Arkansas."
In 1957, Little Rock’s Philander Smith College, an historically black college, opened its doors to the “Little Rock Nine” to help them prepare for their first days as students at Central High School. Barred from entering the all-white high school by order of the governor, the students struggled to keep from falling behind in their coursework, aided by Philander Smith College faculty members.
The southwest corner of Park Street and W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive (formerly 14th Street) is the location where Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine, was initially turned away from entering Central High School by the Arkansas National Guard on September 4, 1957.
Near this sidewalk junction, Arkansas Democrat photographer Will Counts captures lone walk of Elizabeth Eckford and the faces of discrimination and ignorance behind her as she proceeds down Park Street. Repeatedly denied access to Central High School by the Arkansas National Guard, Eckford decides to seek solace on a bus bench a half-block ahead of her.
"Testament" are a set of bronzed statues representing each member of the Little Rock Nine in 1957. The statues sit on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol and face the former office of Governor Orval Faubus, the leader whose resistance to see integration succeed at Little Rock Central High School was thwarted by President Dwight Eisenhower and the 101st Airborne.
