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Elizabeth Eckford

Elizabeth Eckford is an American civil rights activist whose courageous actions helped spark significant change in the fight for racial equality in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. As a member of the Little Rock Nine, she played a pivotal role in the desegregation of public schools in the south, and her bravery in the face of intense opposition and violence has made her a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement.
 

In 1957, Elizabeth Eckford was the first African American student to attempt to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. She and eight other students, known as the Little Rock Nine, volunteered to enroll in the all-white school as part of the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. However, when the students arrived at the school on their first day, they were met with an angry mob of white segregationists who shouted racial slurs and threatened violence.
 

The events that transpired that day at Central High School brought national attention to the ongoing fight against segregation and led President Dwight D. Eisenhower to send federal troops to ensure the safety of the students. Eckford and the other members of the Little Rock Nine ultimately succeeded in integrating the school.
 

She co-authored a memoir, "The Worst First Day: Bullied While Desegregating Central High," in which she shares her experiences as a trailblazer in the fight for equality.
 

A National Endowment for the Humanities Program for K-12 Teachers (with content geared towards 6th-12th grades)

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