Remember When: The Day Federal Troops Walked Nine Students to School

Nine teenagers wanted to go to school. It took the U.S. Army to get them through the door.

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. Three years later, Little Rock, Arkansas, was set to integrate Central High School. On September 4, 1957, Governor Orval Faubus used the Arkansas National Guard to block nine Black students from entering. Angry crowds gathered. A federal court ordered the blockade to end. It didn't.

On September 24, 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent about 1,000 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock. He then went on national television and radio and told the country: "Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of our courts."

The next day, September 25, the nine students walked into Central High escorted by soldiers. Their names are Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Pattillo Beals. They were teenagers, and they endured harassment and abuse throughout the school year.

A court ruling means little if no one will enforce it. In Little Rock, the federal government did, because the law demanded it.

Leading Ladies Vote believes equal access to education is a right, not a favor. Every fight for equality starts with someone walking through a door they were told to stay out of. It's on all of us to make sure the law holds when they do. Our vote is our power.