LITTLE ROCK National Park Service Ranger Spirit Trickey feels a special connection when directing tourists down the sidewalk to Little Rock Central High School. Her mother made the same journey 50 years ago as one of nine black students integrating the previously all-white school.
"I always want people to realize that this is their history too. It's not just black history. It's American history and world history," said Trickey, the daughter of Minniejean Brown-Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine. The Central High School National Historic Site offers tours related to the 1957 crisis, and visitors to Little Rock will find a variety of things to see and do this summer and early fall to mark the 50th anniversary of the events.
After a showdown between Gov. Orval Faubus and President Eisenhower, the Little Rock Nine entered Central High School on Sept. 25, 1957 escorted by members of the 101st Airborne. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled against "separate but equal" schools in 1954 but Faubus ignored a local federal court order to integrate Central.
"(Central) was the first important test after the Brown vs. Board of Education case to break down segregation and education. So Brown happened on the court level, but this was on the ground level," Trickey said.
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