Central High LR9 1st Day

Central High School National Historic Site is one of over 400 National Park Service units. This Site is focused around the stories of the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 after the Supreme Court ruling on the Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas decision. The impacts of the events connected to this challenging time within the history of the United States continue to have relevance within our lives today. The audio tour app provides direct quotes from the first hand accounts of many of the different figures who were involved in the first attempted desegregation of the High School, focused around the harrowing experiences of Elizabeth Eckford. The tour will follow Elizabeth, as she tried multiple times to access the school grounds before eventually realizing she would have to seek shelter from the large terrorizing mob that had surrounded her protesting desegregation of the school. The tour will end at a replica of the original bus bench where she found some inner detachment and eventual escape from the terrible situation. This student developed project helps participants truly understand why this event would highlight the need for change within the United States to its citizens and others around the world.