The Federal Government Must Prevail: Eisenhower, the 101st Airborne, and the 1957 Central High Crisis

Eisenhower Presidential Library (indoor courtyard)

Guest speaker, Dr. Johanna Lewis will join us virtually to continue our discussion around the Little Rock School Integration Crisis. Our recent program "Difficult Decisions: The Little Rock 9" examined the situation from the perspective of the nine students involved. Lewis will help us explore the use of military force to manage the situation. In the Fall of 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus ignored the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. The Topeka Board of Education and sent in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the nine African American teenagers from attending Little Rock's Central High School. President Eisenhower was clear from the outset that the federal government would support the Constitution and the Supreme Court. Eisenhower responded by calling in the 101st Airborne to escort the students into the school on September 25, 1957. Dr. Lewis is Associate Dean for Curriculum and Student Success in the College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education, and professor of History at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She holds a Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary. Dr. Lewis has a book, Artisans in the North Carolina Backcountry, a documentary Time of Fear, and numerous articles, presentations, and exhibits to her credit.

These programs are all made possible courtesy of the Eisenhower Foundation with generous support from the Jeffcoat Memorial Foundation.