![]() ![]() Senior Ernest Green became the first African American graduate of Central High in May 1958. As one person put it, it’s hard to put these Negro children…up against our near- delinquents.” But there are a hundred ways of making the Negroes miserable without being detected. The NAACP is almost as mad at us as the Capital Citizens’ Council for our ‘lack of discipline’. Vice Principal for Girls Elizabeth Huckaby wrote to her brother saying, “our role as administrators seems to be to try to carry on education as normally as possible and to protect these children with every precaution we can. Inside the school, teachers and students tried to carry on as usual, while a small group of students consistently harassed the nine African American students. Federalized Arkansas National Guard troops remained for the rest of the school year. The president’s action was the first time since the post-Civil War Reconstruction period that federal military force was used to support African American civil rights. Army’s 101st Airborne Division to escort the nine students into the school. President Dwight Eisenhower was compelled to use troops from the U.S. In Little Rock, hostilities arose over the admission of nine African American students to Central High School. ![]() Supreme Court declared that racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional. In the spring of 1956, Elvis Presley made his Little Rock debut at Robinson Auditorium, a year later Central students were rocked by a much larger event as their school became the focus of the federal government’s commitment to eliminating segregated public schools. In 1953, the school’s name was changed to Little Rock Central High School, in anticipation of a new high school, Hall High, in Pulaski Heights. The Tiger Fieldhouse was added in 1951, eliminating the need to use the auditorium’s stage for games, and a new library was built in 1969-named for longtime principal Jess W. In 1943, the school’s first principal, John A. After the war, a recycled barracks building was relocated to Central’s campus and became known as the Tiger Inn, where many students met and danced the lunch period away. Students also raised $175,000.00 by selling war bonds and stamps. The show included music, dramatic readings, and short talks.Īs the United States entered World War II, many of Central’s seniors enlisted in the armed forces. In 1932, Little Rock High School hosted a radio program, broadcast weekly from the school tower. Named for Tiger Coach Earl Quigley, who coached Little Rock teams from 1914 to 1935, in its early years the stadium was the state’s largest and hosted many college and university teams including the Arkansas Razorbacks. In 1935, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the “ultra-modern” football stadium, Quigley Field, behind the school. The school received extensive publicity upon its opening an article in the Arkansas Gazette said, “we have hundreds of journalists in our fair city for the dedication” of the new high school.Īt its construction, Central’s auditorium seated 2,000 and included a 60 x 160 ft. ![]() Over 36 million pounds of concrete and 370 tons of steel went into the building’s construction. The building is two city blocks long and includes 150,000 square feet of floor space. During the school’s dedication in September 1927, school board member Lillian McDermott said that the new building would “stand as a public school where Ambition is fired, where Personality is developed, where Opportunity is presented, and where Preparation in the solution of life’s problems is begun.” The school’s immense size was designed to inspire awe for learning. One of the primary design elements is the four Greco-Roman cast stone figures over the school’s main entrance. Designed as a mix of Art Deco and Collegiate Gothic architectural styles, the school was built to evoke images of higher seats of learning in Europe. Built in 1927 as Little Rock Senior High School, Central was named “America’s Most Beautiful High School” by the American Institute of Architects. By 1924, the city’s high school was considerably overcrowded and Little Rock’s business and civic leaders saw a need for a much larger facility to handle future enrollment needs. ![]()
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