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In 1853 Little Rock, Arkansas opens its first ever public school. During this time the school was only for white students.
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In 1929 Paul Laurence Dunbar High School opens. At the time this school was only for African American students. This school cost "$400,000" to build (NPS, n.d.), which is significant since two years prior, the high school for white students cost "$1.5 million to construct" (NPS, n.d.), this is a large gap between costs. NPS. (n.d.). Crisis timeline. National Parks Service. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://www.nps.gov/chsc/learn/historyculture/timeline.htm
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Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka was where the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against racial segregation in public schools, declaring it "unconstitutional" (NPS, n.d.)
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After the Supreme Courts decreed the Brown vs. BoE decision to be implemented within the United States, the Little Rock School District's Superintendent, Virgil Blossom, announced their compliance with the implementation decree (NPA, n.d.)
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Central High School's first day of school on September 4th, 1957 was the day that the Little Rock Nine were supposed to begin their start at a desegregated school. However, Governor Orval Faubus called the "Arkansas National Guard to block the black students' entry" (History.com, 2010).
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Later in the month of September, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in order to escort the Little Rock Nine into their school. This created national attention to the event going on in Little Rock.