Elizabeth Bates Research Paper

Parents of the nine African American students contacted Daisy Bates who was the local leader of the NAACP, owned, and ran the State Press one of the town’s newspapers. The parents were scared of violence and asked her for advice on what to do. The parents were not scared for violence towards them but against their children attending the school. According to Bates, D. (1987), the mother of Elizabeth Echford remembered when she was a child in 1927 that she and a friend walked up on a crowd on the street who had beaten a young black boy then dragged him through the streets and set him on fire. As horrifying as that was, Mrs. Bates assured her that the town of Little Rock was different now and that the National Guard would protect the children.

Elizabeth felt like she would be safer if she were to walk along the line of the National Guardsman standing guard around the school. When she arrived at the school entrance, she noticed White students going through the National Guard lines and heading into the school. During this whole time, the Mop was screaming racial things towards her. When Elizabeth approached the sidewalk entrance to the school the Soldier that she walked up to would not look at her or allow Elizabeth to enter. When Elizabeth tried to walk past the National Guard Soldier, he pointed his weapon with a bayonet on it towards her. Elizabeth with support of a couple of good Samaritans one a White women named Mrs. Grace Lorch a wife to a local professor help Elizabeth get on a city bus and leave the area. Unfortunately, the mob continued to yell ungodly things at Elizabeth and one women even spit in her face. The Arkansas National Guard denied the other children with the support of the local Ministers into the school. President Eisenhower learned of the denial of the students into the Little Rock High school so Eisenhower requested a meeting with Governor Faubus to talk about what was going on in Little Rock Arkansas. According to American, Story (n.d.), in the meeting, the President had with Governor Faubus the

Bates to escort the nine student’s safely to school the next day after the National Guard was pulled out from Central High school. The police department agreed, but would not escort the students from their homes to school. The police said they would meet the students at the school. The day of school, the children were rushed into a side entrance of the school and mob attacked some of the African American reporters that were there hitting, kicking them, and one even was hit by a brick on the side of the head. The police could not keep control of the mob and the nine students were taken out of the school. That night African Americans were attacked around Little Rock. According to Bates, D. (1987), two black women were beaten and two black men in their truck were taken out and beaten and their truck was totaled. The Mayor Woodrow Mann of Little Rock did not receive any response for help when requested to the Governor so he finally requested help from President Eisenhower. According to Arkansas History and Culture (October 22, 2014), President Eisenhower issued an order on sending U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne and federalizing the Army National Guard to Little Rock Arkansas to restore order. The U.S. Army 101st Airborne did not take long to restore order in and around Central School. There was an issue with a small group of angry male protestors but it was dispersed by the 101st. The Army contacted