Eckford, Elizabeth (1941-…), was one of the Little Rock Nine. This group of nine African American students integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957. Photographs of the 15-year-old Eckford, who appeared calm in the face of threats and taunts from a white mob, made her a symbol of the struggle for civil rights in the United States.
Elizabeth Ann Eckford was born in Little Rock on Oct. 4, 1941. She had attended the all-black Horace Mann High School in Little Rock until the end of her sophomore year. In 1955, the Supreme Court of the United States had ordered that public school desegregation be carried out “with all deliberate speed.” On Aug. 31, 1957, the Little Rock Board of Education announced that Central High School would be open to all qualified pupils in the fall, regardless of race. Previously, only white students attended the school. School authorities selected Eckford as one of nine students to integrate Central High.
The Little Rock Nine were scheduled to enter Central High on the morning of September 4. The students planned to attempt to enter the school together. But Eckford’s family did not own a phone, so she did not receive word of the plans. As a result, Eckford was alone when she got off the bus a block from the school. She tried to enter the school twice, but Arkansas National Guardsmen turned her away both times. The Guardsmen were there under orders from Arkansas Governor Orval E. Faubus. The Guardsmen also blocked the other black students from entering the school.
On September 24, President Dwight D. Eisenhower put the National Guard troops of Arkansas under federal control. He sent the U.S. Army to enforce the integration of Central High. On September 25, Army troops escorted the students into the school. However, state and school authorities continued their efforts to block or delay integration. In September 1958, the Supreme Court ruled that integration in Little Rock must continue. In response, Faubus ordered the city’s public high schools to close for the school year.
Despite continued harassment from white students, Eckford finished her junior year at Central High. She was unable to attend any Little Rock high school her senior year because Faubus had closed them. She eventually obtained a high school diploma through correspondence and night courses. She earned a B.A. degree in history from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. Eckford served in the U.S. Army for five years. She later became a probation officer in Little Rock.
In 1958, Eckford and the other members of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Spingarn Medal for their contributions to the cause of civil rights. By the early 1970’s, nearly all public schools in Arkansas had integrated. In 1999, the members of the Little Rock Nine received the Congressional Gold Medal. The medal is one of the nation’s highest civilian awards.
See also Bates, Daisy Lee Gatson ; Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ; Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site ; Little Rock Nine .
