Proclamation 3204: President Eisenhower Orders the Dispersal of Unlawful Assemblies in Little Rock (1957)

Date: September 23, 1957

Created By: James Hagerty

Original or Replica: Original

Era: Civil Rights, The Presidency

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: Kevin McCann Collection of Press and Radio Conferences and Press Releases, Box 20, September 1957; NAID #17366742

This document is Proclamation 3204, issued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 23, 1957, during the Little Rock Crisis. Released by the White House through Press Secretary James C. Hagerty, the proclamation ordered all individuals obstructing the enforcement of federal court orders in Little Rock, Arkansas, to immediately disperse and cease interfering with the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School. The proclamation represented President Eisenhower’s final warning before authorizing the use of federal military forces the following day.

In the proclamation, President Eisenhower declared that unlawful assemblies and acts of resistance had obstructed the enforcement of orders issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, making it impossible to enforce the law through ordinary judicial proceedings. Citing his constitutional authority and provisions of Chapter 15, Title 10 of the United States Code, he ordered all persons engaged in the obstruction of justice to disperse immediately. The accompanying document reproduces the federal statutes that authorized the President to call the militia or armed forces into service when state authorities were unable or unwilling to enforce federal law or protect constitutional rights.

Proclamation 3204 marked a pivotal moment in the federal response to the Little Rock Crisis. When those resisting school integration failed to comply with the President’s order, Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10730 on September 24, 1957, federalizing the Arkansas National Guard and deploying the 101st Airborne Division to enforce the desegregation orders of the federal courts. Together, the proclamation and executive order illustrate the constitutional steps taken by the President before exercising military authority to uphold the rule of law.