Press Release
9/24/1957
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
Add only page 1 to activity:
Add only page 2 to activity:
Add only page 3 to activity:
Add only page 4 to activity:
This is the press release relating to a radio and television speech delivered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower regarding the integration crisis at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Additional details from our exhibits and publications
The state of Arkansas initially would not comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Brown v. Board of Education case, which called for desegregation in public schools to be implemented “with all deliberate speed.” In 1957, defiant Governor Orval Faubus ordered national guardsmen to block the entry of nine black students to Little Rock's Central High School. As a former military officer, President Eisenhower knew that such resistance could not be tolerated and thereupon federalized the guard. For the first time since Reconstruction, a U.S. President ordered federal troops to defend the rights of black citizens.
This primary source comes from the Collection DDE-EPRES: Eisenhower, Dwight D.: Papers as President of the United States.
National Archives Identifier: 1938298
Full Citation: Press Release; 9/24/1957; Integration, Little Rock, September 24, 1957; Speech Files, 1953–1961; Collection DDE-EPRES: Eisenhower, Dwight D.: Papers as President of the United States; Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, KS. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/press-release, April 25, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.