#36: The Little Rock Nine
Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, became the first public high school in the South to be integrated after the historic Brown v. Board of Education ruling that made racially segregated schools illegal. The first Black students to attend Little Rock Central High are known today as The Little Rock Nine.
Although several schools in the northern United States had been integrated before 1957, The Little Rock Nine marked a significant moment in U.S. history. The NAACP registered nine Black students to attend the previously all-white high school. The governor of Arkansas originally called in the National Guard to prevent these students from attending. However, President Eisenhower issued an executive order that required the National Guard to ensure that new students were allowed into the school.