Little Rock Central High School, in Arkansas, was set to begin the 1957 school year de-segregated. The Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, defied the Federal Court's decision in the case Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, that said that school segregation was unconstitutional, and instead ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the first nine African American students, the "Little Rock Nine", from entering the school.

In the ensuing crisis an injunction was issued against Governor Faubus and the nine students returned to school. But this time they were met by an angry...