Notes from a telephone conversation between President Dwight D. Eisenhower and attorney general Herbert Brownell, Jr. on September 25, 1957. The president and the attorney general discussed the school integration crisis at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The page also lists other telephone conversations that took place throughout the day and notes the topics of each conversation. The Little Rock school district voted to integrate its schools in 1957. Governor Faubus, opposed to integration, sent members of the Arkansas National Guard to prevent African American students--the "Little Rock Nine"--from entering Little Rock Central High School on September 4. Federal courts ordered Governor Faubus to remove the troops and permit the nine students to enter the school on September 23, 1957. However, because of the rioting that continued outside, the students were removed from the school after three hours. President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered troops from the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock to restore order and to protect the students. After a single year of integration, Governor Faubus closed the Little Rock public high schools to avoid further integration. The United States Supreme Court declared Faubus' action illegal and the public schools reopened August 1959.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

Collection: Dwight D. Eisenhower's Papers as President (Ann Whitman File), Series: DDE Diary Series, Box Number: 27, Folder Title: September 1957 Telephone Calls.

Rights Status: Unrestricted

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Forms part of: Presidential Timeline of the Twentieth Century.