Marcia Amidon Lusted 
Little Rock Desegregation Crisis 

In fall of 1957, nine black students approached the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The students, who became known as the Little Rock Nine, were testing a 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation illegal. Their actions led to a standoff, with the state National Guard ordered to bar the students’ entry. Weeks later, federal troops sent by President Eisenhower arrived to escort them inside. Readers will find themselves experiencing the desegregation crisis and a time of clashing attitudes that would affect all Little Rock’s students, black and white, and the rest of the country’s as well.