Letter to Eisenhower against School Integration
10/14/1957
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
In this letter from Charles W. Albright to President Eisenhower, the New Jersey resident shares his opinion on the recent actions by the President during the Little Rock Crisis.
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that segregated schools are "inherently unequal." In September 1957, as a result of that ruling, nine African-American students enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The ensuing struggle between segregationists and integrationists, the State of Arkansas and the federal government, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, has become known in modern American history as the "Little Rock Crisis."
The crisis gained world-wide attention. When Governor Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School to keep the nine students from entering the school, President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to insure the safety of the "Little Rock Nine" and that the rulings of the Supreme Court were upheld.
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that segregated schools are "inherently unequal." In September 1957, as a result of that ruling, nine African-American students enrolled at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The ensuing struggle between segregationists and integrationists, the State of Arkansas and the federal government, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, has become known in modern American history as the "Little Rock Crisis."
The crisis gained world-wide attention. When Governor Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School to keep the nine students from entering the school, President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to insure the safety of the "Little Rock Nine" and that the rulings of the Supreme Court were upheld.
Transcript
17 Schuyler Dr
Clark, N. J.
Oct. 14, 1957
Dwight D. Eisenhower
President, United State [sic] of America Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. President :
I hardly know why I write this to you since you will never read it and about all I can hope for is my letter will be thrown into the segregation pile rather than the desegregation pile. I suppose I write because I'm deeply troubled and angry too because so many outside agitators are causing so much friction throughout the South. Mr. President your way to force integration in southern schools is not the way unless you are prepared to occupy every city and state in the deep south; you haven't hit the "hot" states and small towns yet. I plead with you to let each city, county, and state solve their own issues at the polls without pressure from uninformed and disinterested people. The three school system is the best way to handle school segregation problems and abide by the law and please all concerned or otherwise. I strongly urge you to come out for, white, colored, and mixed schools. Do not be misguided by political opportunist. Please remember southern Christians believe in their way of life too.
Respectfully yours
Charles W. Albright
This primary source comes from the White House Central Files (Eisenhower Administration), 1953 - 1961.
National Archives Identifier: 6092848
Full Citation: Letter to President Dwight D. Eisenhower from Charles W. Albright Against School Integration; 10/14/1957; Bulk Mail Files, 1953 - 1961; White House Central Files (Eisenhower Administration), 1953 - 1961; Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, KS. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/letter-eisenhower-school-integration, April 24, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
