Little Rock High School
Little Rock, Arkansas, Senior High School was built in 1927 at a cost of $1.5 million. The New York Times wrote that it was the most expensive school building ever constructed in the United States. It was the largest high school in the nation and remained the largest until late in the 1940s. The National Association of Architects also named it "the most beautiful high school building in America."

In 1977, Little Rock Central High School's main building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1982, the Department of the Interior designated the building as a National Historic Landmark.

The designation, however, reflected not the building's architeture, but the ground-shaking events that occurred at Central High School in 1957. As described on the High School's 40th Anniversary web site:

"In the summer of 1957, the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, made plans to desegregate its public schools. Within a week of the 1954 landmark Supreme Court decision [in Brown v. Board of Education] striking down racial segregation in public schools Arkansas was one of two Southern states to announce it would begin immediately to take steps to comply with the new "law of the land." . ...

But the smooth transition to the school system's integration was not to be.

On September 2, the night before school was to start, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called out the state's National Guard to surround Little Rock Central High School and prevent any black students from entering ... A federal judge granted an injunction against the Governor's use of National Guard troops to prevent integration and they were withdrawn on September 20.

When school resumed on Monday, September 23, Central High was surrounded by Little Rock policemen. About 1,000 people gathered in front of the school. The police escorted the nine black students to a side door where they quietly entered the building as classes were to begin. When the mob learned the blacks were inside, they began to challenge the police and surge toward the school with shouts and threats. Fearful the police would be unable to control the crowd, the school administration moved the black students out a side door before noon.

U.S. Congressman Brooks Hays and Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann asked the federal government for help ... On September 25, 1957, the nine black students entered the school under the protection of 1,000 members of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. ..."
Status: Remains in use as a high school, now called the Central International Studies High School. An excellent review of the historic events of 1957 is available on the High School's 40th Anniversary web site.