“What you see depends upon where you stand.”
The first enslaved Africans were brought to the Arkansas area during the French and Spanish colonial era. Six were listed in the first census in 1723 at the establishment of the settlement and by 1798 56 enslaved were documented in the final census prior to the Louisiana Purchase. People of African descent, both free and enslaved, have been present from the founding of Arkansas, in its years as a territory, statehood, secession and the 20th and 21st centuries. www.littlerock.com
The labor of the free and enslaved was so beneficial to the economy that importation continued at a furious pace until the white population grew alarmed at their numbers. The vast majority of the slaves worked in rural areas, on plantations or small farms. An 1842-3 law made it illegal for any free black to enter Arkansas and in 1850 all adult freedmen were forced to leave or be re-enslaved.
When, on May 6, 1861 Arkansas seceded from the Union the 1860 Federal census reflected that there were 111,115 slaves, 144 freedmen and a white population of 324,125 statewide. A Civil War quickly followed, ending in 1865, when all former slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment of the Constitution.
In March 1866 the government established the Freedman’s Bureau, an agency designed to provide food, housing, education, medical assistance and legal support, for the betterment of indigent whites and those once enslaved. The bureau was one of the primary vehicles created during Reconstruction (1861-1900), a period earmarked to integrate the newly freed into the larger population with equal opportunities and rights. www.nps.gov/reer/index
Many “unreconstructed” southerners believed that although the South had lost the war, they would win the peace and the hallmark of this effort was to keep the blacks in their place. This was accomplished by night riders, lynching and unequal or a lack of justice. The NAACP led African Americans in the legal fight for Civil Rights. In 1954 The U.S. Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, overturned separate but equal facilitating school integration and equal protection.
Little Rock, Arkansas’ portion of the Civil Rights Heritage Trail is extremely important on the road to freedom and no visit to the city is complete without it.
The Old State House Museum is the oldest state capitol building west of the Mississippi. It now houses a museum that relates the states’ history from 1936. The original legislative chamber is on view.
William Clinton Presidential Library & Museum on 30-acres, built to represent “the bridge to the future”, explores the issues of Clinton’s presidency with emphasis on the state of Civil Rights at the time. Highlights of the galleries include an exact, life-sized, replica of the Oval Office and a Presidential Limousine.
Esse Purse Museum makes a unique contribution to an understanding of black social life in those years. The museum interprets the history of purses for 100-years. Each era is in a case with the purse and its contents. Several cases are devoted to African Americans and an entire gallery relates the story of African American women’s contribution to the home economics movement. Essepursemuseum.com
Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (MTCC) was founded in 2001 to preserve and promulgate the state’s African American history from 1870 onward. Exhibits can be accessed on self-guided and guided tours. The Arkansas Black Hall of Fame is located in the center. The center offers educational materials and special events. Mosaictemplarscenter.com
Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site stands as a huge symbol of the Civil Rights struggle for equal education and equal protection enforcing the 14th Amendment. After the 1954 decision on Brown v. Board the Little Rock Board of Ed. immediately refused to desegregate. Realizing this was an untenable stand, on May 24, 1955 they put forth a gradual integration plan. Their 3-phase plan would begin in 1957. Arkansas NAACP President Daisy Bates and the NAACP contested the plan. Nine Little Rock black students were chosen to become the first students in the then Central High School. The intimidating 7-floor, 2-block long, 1-block wide was built in 1927 and strategy and support meetings were held at the Bates’ home. Her home was repeatedly vandalized, bombed and the site of cross burnings. Tours can be arranged in advance. Her courage was honored with numerous awards and when she carried the Olympic torch on the Little Rock portion in 1996.
The Nine first tried to enter on September 4, 1957 and were turned away. After several attempts to enter through shouting crowds, on September 25th President Eisenhower sent the Army's 101st Airborne and federalized the National Guard to escort them into Central High for classes. The school is the only functioning school within a National Historic Site.
Your first stop should be the visitor center and museum for background information. Ranger-led tours are available from there. Across the street is the gas station that was used by news services to tell the world.
The Little Rock Nine Memorial on the grounds of the State Capitol, “Testament,” depicts the nine students as life-sized bronzes. The diorama is positioned so that visitors can interact with the figures and are facing the governor’s office so that these events are kept in the forefront of their thoughts. #visitLittleRock
On June 11, 1968 Abbey Roads Studio produced a solo by Paul McCartney. The song, “Blackbird,” is a tribute to the “struggle in the southern states.” McCartney stated that the blackbird is symbolism for black girl.
Follow the Civil Rights Trail and be changed forever.
"For us, the bottom line was every single morning of our lives for nine months, we got up, we polished our saddle shoes, and we went to war." Melba Patillo Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine
