the
capital city of
Arkansas, USA, which, in September 1957, became the focus of
world attention over desegregation in the city's
school system. In 1954 the US
Supreme Court had outlawed racial segregation, but the plan to gradually integrate the city's
school system was blocked when the
governor of
Arkansas ordered
state militia to
prevent nine black students from entering Little
Rock Central High School at the beginning of the
school year. For twenty days, US
President Dwight D.
Eisenhower (1890-1969) attempted to
handle the
governor, but when this failed, he placed the
Arkansas troops under
federal control and
sent in 1,000 US Army paratroopers who escorted the nine students into the
school, protecting them with
bayonets.
the
capital of and largest city in
Arkansas, United
States. In 1957,
federal troops were
sent into Little
Rock to enforce the United
States Supreme Court ruling of a trial against racial segregation in
public schools.