On September 4th, 1957, the students met at Daisy's house before heading to Central for the first time. Elizabeth Eckford couldn't be contacted, and walked to school alone.
"I walked toward the center of the street and when I got to about the middle and I approached the guard he directed me across the street into the crowd. It was only then that I realized that they were barring me, that I wouldn’t go to school."
- Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Nine
“Go home, nigger! Go back to Africa!”
- Hazel Bryan, screaming girl in the photograph
"I walked toward the center of the street and when I got to about the middle and I approached the guard he directed me across the street into the crowd. It was only then that I realized that they were barring me, that I wouldn’t go to school."
- Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Nine
“Go home, nigger! Go back to Africa!”
- Hazel Bryan, screaming girl in the photograph
An angry mob gathered outside of Central High, but it was the Arkansas National Guard with weapons drawn, sent by Governor Faubus, who ultimately prevented the teenagers from entering.
"Two, four, six, eight, we don't wanna integrate!"
- Crowd outside of Central
“Lynch her! Lynch her!” “No nigger is going to get in our school!” “Go home, nigger!”
- White students outside of Central
"Two, four, six, eight, we don't wanna integrate!"
- Crowd outside of Central
“Lynch her! Lynch her!” “No nigger is going to get in our school!” “Go home, nigger!”
- White students outside of Central
"As I stepped out into the street, the people who had been across the street started surging forward behind me. So, I headed in the opposite direction to where there was another bus stop. Safety to me meant getting to that bus stop. It seemed like I sat there for a long time before the bus came. In the meantime, people were screaming behind me. What I would have described as a crowd before, to my ears sounded like a mob."
- Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Nine
- Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Nine
Elizabeth Eckford was helped by a white, Good Samaritan who escorted her onto a city bus home.
"Don't let them see you cry"
-Benjamin Fine, a reporter on the scene
"Don't let them see you cry"
-Benjamin Fine, a reporter on the scene
People held up signs saying "Go back to Africa," and "Save our Christian USA"
Ernest Green, one of the Nine, talks about September 4th:
Video courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MijCzE9Y1DI.
"I was disappointed not to see what is inside Central High School. I don't understand why the governor sent grown-up soldiers to keep us out. I don't know if I should go back. But Grandma is right, if I don't go back they will think they have won. They will think they can use soldiers to frighten us, and we'll always have to obey them. They'll always be in charge if I don't go back to Central and make the integration happen."
-Melba Pattillo (one of the Nine) in her diary on September 4, 1957
-Melba Pattillo (one of the Nine) in her diary on September 4, 1957