On this day, federal troops withdrew from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, after nearly two months of protecting the Little Rock Nine — a group of nine Black students who had enrolled in the previously all-white school.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower had sent the 101st Airborne Division to enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared school segregation unconstitutional.
The presence of troops helped ensure the students’ safety against violent mobs and resistance from the Arkansas governor. Their withdrawal marked a turning point, symbolizing the beginning of federal enforcement of civil rights in education — but the students continued to face harassment throughout the year.
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