Elizabeth Eckford

Elizabeth Eckford is depicted in this photograph taken by Will Counts in 1957. It is one of the top 100 photographs of the 20th century, according to the Associated Press. Hazel Massery is the white girl seen yelling at Eckford as Eckford attempted to enter the school.

Elizabeth Eckford (born 1942) is one of the African American students known as the Little Rock Nine. On September 4, 1957, she and eight other African American students attempted to enter Little Rock Central High School, which had previously only accepted white children. They were stopped at the door by Arkansas National Guard troops called up by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus. They tried again without success to attend Central High on September 23, 1957. The next day, September 24, President Dwight D. Eisenhower reluctantly sent U.S. Army troops to accompany the Little Rock Nine to school.

In 1958 Elizabeth Eckford moved to St. Louis where she achieved the necessary qualifications to study for a B.A. in history.

After graduating she became the first African American in St. Louis to work in a bank in a non-janitorial position.

Eckford returned to Little Rock in the 1960s and worked in the public schools as a substitute teacher.

In 1996, seven of the Little Rock Nine, including Elizabeth Eckford, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. They came face to face with a few of the white students who tormented them as well as one student who befriended them.

Sources

• Facing History and Ourselves
• "Civil Rights", Kids Discover, Volume 16, Issue 1, ISSN 1054-2868, January 2006.