Little Rock Nine

===National Guard blockade===
Several segregationist councils threatened to hold protests at Central High and physically block the Black students from entering the school. Governor [[Orval Faubus]] deployed the [[Arkansas National Guard]] to support the segregationists on September 4, 1957. The sight of a line of soldiers blocking out the students made national headlines and polarized the nation. Regarding the accompanying crowd, one of the nine students, [[Elizabeth Eckford]], recalled:

{{blockquote|They moved closer and closer. ... Somebody started yelling. ... I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the crowd—someone who maybe could help. I looked into the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat on me.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/27019977/little-rock-nine-paved-way|title=Little Rock Nine paved the way|access-date=March 4, 2009|last=Boyd|first=Herb|date=September 27, 2007|volume=98|issue=40|newspaper=[[New York Amsterdam News]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413132249/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/27019977/little-rock-nine-paved-way|archive-date=April 13, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}

On September 9, the Little Rock School District issued a statement condemning the governor's deployment of soldiers to the school, and called for a citywide prayer service on September 12. Even President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Dwight Eisenhower]] attempted to de-escalate the situation by summoning Faubus for a meeting, warning him not to defy the Supreme Court's ruling.<ref name="Newport">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,893684,00.html|title=Retreat from Newport|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=September 23, 1957|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811215326/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,893684,00.html|archive-date=August 11, 2013|df=mdy-all}}.</ref>