Name: Middleton, Janelle
E-mail: janelle_lynne@eudoramail.com
Topic: Role of Arkansas women in desegregation and integration
Grade: 8th
Time: 1 class period
Ark. Hist. Framework: 2.1.11, 3.1.11, 3.1.12, 5.1.11
Objective: The students will be able to describe the role of Daisy Bates
and Elizabeth Eckford in Desegregation.
Set: Begin by dividing the class, based on a characteristic such as color
of eyes, hair, or shirt. Praise the students with the “favored”
characteristic, not only for having the characteristic, but also for how smart
they must be, etc, since they have that characteristic. Say that
those without the characteristic don’t deserve nice treatment.
Discuss how this separation made the students feel. Then, explain
that black people in the 1950’s and 1960’s (and also several decades before)
were discriminated against merely because of skin color.
Materials: Arkansas History text; overhead of the cartoon on p. 33 of Adventure
Tales of Arkansas: A cartoon history of a spirited people. Copies of p.
52 “Lessons from History” from Adventure Tales of Arkansas: A guidebook for
students, photographs from the Little Rock school crisis of 1957.
Key Terms: Segregation, desegregation, integration, civil rights, 13th
amendment, 14th amendment, 15th amendment, NAACP, Daisy Bates, Elizabeth
Eckford, Governor Faubus, Little Rock Nine.
Key Facts: *Prior to 1950s, blacks and whites had to attend separate
schools.
*In 1952, the Little Rock Council on Education determined that black
schools were worse than white schools, and the ethical answer would be to
integrate schools.
*In 1954, Brown vs. Board of Education, a U.S. Supreme Court case, ruled
that schools must be integrated. However, few schools complied
immediately.
*In 1957, Little Rock school district designed an integration plan,
beginning with the integration of Little Rock Central High in the fall.
*Governor Faubus was concerned by the backlash from segregationalists who
opposed school integration.
*The school superintendent interviewed black students and chose nine
to integrate the all-white Central High, one of whom was 14-year old Elizabeth
Eckford.
*Daisy Bates, publisher of the black newspaper Arkansas State Press and
state chairman of the NAACP, played a critical role in defending black students’
rights to the same education as whites. She organized the “Little Rock
Nine,” as the 9 young black students came to be called. Her home was
the assembly place for the 9 on the morning of September 4, 957.
*On September 3, the superintendent met with the students’ parents to
discuss the 1st day of school. The parents would not be allowed to
accompany the students, only 4 ministers. Late that night, Daisy Bates
received word that there may be trouble, and she arranged for the 9 to meet and
arrive as a group.
*Elizabeth Eckford had no phone, could not be reached, and did not meet
with the others. When she arrived at Little Rock Central, she
assumed the guards were there to protect her. Instead, the guards raised
their bayonets when she attempted to enter school. Those events
traumatized her, and she had nightmares about the incidents.
*Almost a month passed before President Eisenhower placed the school under
martial law of the National Guard, allowing the black students to safely attend
the school.
Activities: Introduce the key facts and key terms. Display photographs taken
during the integration of Central High School and have the students discuss them.
Display the cartoon on the overhead and review the events. Discuss
the roles of Daisy Bates and Elizabeth Eckford. Pass out copies of the “Lessons
from History.” After students have completed the page, discuss their responses.
Give students a choice between the following: 1. compose a cartoon
that details the events and people described in today’s lesson or 2. write a diary
entry from the viewpoint of Elizabeth Eckford or Daisy Bates, detailing their
possible feelings and the events.
Closure: Aren’t you glad that these ladies paved the way for us today?
Today, we have integrated schools. Today, no black students have to fight
for their right to an education. This should definitely make us all more
appreciative of all the rights we have today.
Assessment: Take up the “Lessons from History,” cartoons, and diary entries.
Evaluate the Cartoons and Diary entries to determine whether the students understand
the role of these women in desegregation.
Resources: An Arkansas History for Young People, 2nd ed., by Baker and Browning
(chapter 10)
The Long Shadow of Little Rock by Daisy Bates. New York: David McKay Co,
1962.
Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol.22, pp 186-187
Adventure Tales of Arkansas: a cartoon history of a spirited people, by C.
Fred Williams. Little Rock, AR: Signal Media Corp., 1986.
Adventure Tales of Arkansas: a guidebook for students, by Jody Potts.
Little Rock, AR: Signal Media Corp., 1988.
-----------------