LITTLE ROCK GIRL 1957

Nine African American students made history when they defied a governor and integrated an Arkansas high school in 1957. It was the photo of one of the nine trying to enter the school—a young girl being taunted, harassed, and threatened by an angry mob—that grabbed the world’s attention and kept its disapproving gaze on Little Rock. The plan had been for the students to meet and go to school as a group on September 4th, 1957, but one student, Elizabeth Eckford, didn’t hear of the plan and tried to enter the school alone. A chilling photo by newspaper photographer Will Counts captured the sneering expression of a girl in the mob and made history.