May 3, 2012

The North Little Rock Six were six African-American students who attempted to desegregate North Little Rock High School on September 9, 1957. Earlier, the North Little Rock School Board voted to begin integrating classes at the twelfth-grade level; however, after actions taken by Arkansas governor Orval E. Faubus to oppose the integration of Little Rock Central High School, the board halted its integration plan. Three of the six–Gerald Persons, Harold Smith, and Richard Lindsey–are shown here in 2007 at a fiftieth anniversary event. The system was finally desegregated in 1964, when eight students were admitted to elementary school.