Timeline
1896
May 18: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Plessy vs. Ferguson that "separate but equal" facilities for African Americans do not violate the Constitution.
1954
May 17: The Supreme Court unanimously rules in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, et. al. that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The decision is a victory for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Its lawyers had been challenging segregation in the nation's courts for over 20 years.
Fall: African American students enroll in formerly all-white schools in Washington D.C. and 150 school districts in eight states, including Arkansas.
November: Orval E. Faubus is elected governor of Arkansas.
1955
May: The Little Rock School Board adopts a plan to gradually integrate, beginning with the admission of a few African American students to Central High School in September, 1957.
The Supreme Court rules that segregation must be ended "with all deliberate speed" but sets no deadline.
1956
Spring: The Arkansas NAACP files suit in federal court for immediate integration of the Little Rock Public Schools.
November: Faubus is elected to a second term as governor.
1957
Spring: In response to the NAACP lawsuit, a federal court rules that Little Rock's integration plan meets the test of "all deliberate speed." School officials approve 17 African American students for enrollment at Central High School from over 200 applicants.
Faubus pushes four bills designed to resist integration and limit the activities of the NAACP through the Arkansas legislature.
August 27: After Governor Faubus testifies that integration will result in violence, a judge issues a court order temporarily keeping African American students from enrolling at Central High.
August 30: The NAACP successfully challenges the court order in federal court.
September 2: Faubus announces that he is mobilizing the Arkansas National Guard to prevent violence. The School Board asks African American students to stay away from Central High.
September 3: U.S. District Court Judge Ronald N. Davies orders the Little Rock School Board to proceed with integration.
September 4: The Arkansas National Guard refuses to allow nine African American students to enter Central High School.
September 20: U.S. District Court Judge Ronald N. Davies orders an end to state interference with the integration of Central High. The governor withdraws the Arkansas National Guard.
September 23: Over a thousand angry white people gather outside Central High to protest the enrollment of the "Little Rock Nine." Little Rock police officers are unable to maintain order.
September 24: President Dwight Eisenhower sends 1200 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to protect the African American students and restore order.
September 25: Armed soldiers escort the "Little Rock Nine" to school.
October 12: Over 6,000 white and black citizens of Little Rock participate in a day of prayer for peace in the city.
November 27: The 101st Airborne leaves Little Rock. The Arkansas National Guard, now under federal control, is responsible for the safety of the "Little Rock Nine."
1958
May 25: Ernest Green becomes the first African American student to graduate from Central High School.
September 12: Orval Faubus closes all of the city's public high schools rather than allow integration to continue.
1959
August: A group of white parents succeed in reopening Little Rock's high schools to black and white students. Two of the "Little Rock Nine", Carlotta Walls and Jefferson Thomas, are among the students who return to Central High School.