Executive Order 10730: Desegregation of Central High School (1957)
Citation: Executive Order 10730, September 23, 1957 (Little Rock Crisis); General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives.
This executive order of September 23, 1957, signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, sent federal troops to maintain order and peace while the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, AR, took place.
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools were "inherently unequal" and ordered that U.S. public schools be desegregated "with all deliberate speed."
Within a week of the 1954 decision, Arkansas was one of two Southern states to announce it would begin immediately to take steps to comply with the Brown decision. Arkansas's law school had been integrated since 1949, and seven of its eight state universities had desegregated. African Americans had been appointed to state boards and elected to local offices. It had already desegregated its public buses as well as its zoo, library, and parks system.
In the summer of 1957, the city of Little Rock made plans to desegregate its public schools. Little Rock’s school board had voted unanimously for a plan that started with the desegregation of the high school in 1957, followed by junior high schools the next year, and elementary schools following.
In September, nine Black students – collectively known as the "Little Rock Nine" – enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock. The ensuing struggle between segregationists and integrationists, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and the federal government (especially President Dwight D. Eisenhower himself) became known as the "Little Rock Crisis."
The night before school was to start, on September 2, Governor Faubus announced that he had called out the state's National Guard to surround Little Rock Central High School and preserve order. He explained that he was taking this action to protect citizens and property from possible violence by protesters he claimed were headed in caravans toward Little Rock.
On September 4, the nine Black students attempted to enter Central High. The students had planned to meet and enter as a group; though one student, Elizabeth Eckford, did not receive this news and attempted to enter the school by herself, only to be threatened and harassed by an angry mob of segregationists. The students were turned away and denied entry by the Arkansas National Guard. That evening, Governor Faubus revealed that he had ordered the National Guard to prevent the Black students from entering.
President Eisenhower, who was vacationing in Newport, RI, invited Governor Faubus to meet him at the Naval Base at Newport to discuss the tense situation. In the meeting, Faubus indicated that he would respect the desegregation order. Eisenhower therefore suggested that Faubus not necessarily withdraw the National Guard troops, but instruct them to preserve order and allow the Black students to attend Central High.
However, once back in Little Rock, Governor Faubus withdrew the National Guard. A few days later, when the Black students entered the school, a full-scale riot erupted. The situation was quickly out of control, as Governor Faubus failed to stop the violence. Finally, Congressman Brooks Hays and Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann asked the federal government for help, first in the form of U.S. marshals.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, was presented with a difficult problem. He was required to uphold the Constitution and the laws, but he also wanted to avoid a bloody confrontation in Arkansas. With Executive Order 10730, the President placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent 1,000 U.S. Army paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to assist them in restoring order in Little Rock.
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