Qualla: Little Rock Central High School

Little Rock Central High School: Introduction

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Associated Press, Public domain. Four stone figures stand above the front entrance of Little Rock Central High School. They represent ambition, personality, opportunity, and preparation. When the building opened in 1927, it was hailed as the most expensive, most beautiful, and largest high school in the nation, with nearly 20,000 people attending the dedication ceremony. Thirty years later, those allegorical figures looked down on something the architects never imagined: nine Black teenagers walking through a screaming mob, protected by soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division, in what became the first major test of the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. The school that had been built to represent the best of American aspiration became the place where America was forced to reckon with its worst.

Image: Associated Press | Public domain

Little Rock Central High School: The Nine Who Changed Everything

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Adam Jones, Ph.D., CC BY-SA 3.0. In September 1957, nine African American students attempted to enroll at the all-white Central High School, following the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block...

Image: Adam Jones, Ph.D. | CC BY-SA 3.0

Little Rock Central High School: From Courtroom to Classroom to Courtroom Again

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jwbutler00, CC BY-SA 3.0. Central High made legal history a second time in 1968. Biology teacher Susan Epperson agreed to challenge an Arkansas law that forbade teaching the theory of evolution in public schools. The case reached the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in Epperson v. Arkansas that st...

Image: Jwbutler00 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Little Rock Central High School: A Living National Historic Site

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit US Department of Education, Public domain. On November 6, 1998, Congress established the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. A visitor center opened in 2006 diagonally across the street from the school, containing an interpretive film and multimedia exhibits on the integration crisis and the broader ci...

Image: US Department of Education | Public domain

Little Rock Central High School: Tigers on Every Field

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Xltel at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Central High's athletic legacy is staggering. The football program has won 32 state championship banners since 1907, including the state's all-time win record and national championships in 1946 and 1957. The track and field program holds a national-record 50 state championships, ...

Image: Xltel at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0