September 3, 1964

The North Little Rock School District finally desegregated, when eight African-American students were admitted to the all-white Clendenin and Riverside elementary schools. A group of six black students (known as the North Little Rock Six) had attempted to desegregate the district on September 9, 1957, when they arrived for the first day of the school year at North Little Rock High School. A group of students blocked the school’s entrance, and a crowd of more than 200 had gathered by noon. The students did not attempt again to attend the school and enrolled instead in the black Scipio Jones High School.