Army Situation Report Documents Racial Harassment and Military Security at Little Rock Central High School (1958)

Date: February 6, 1958

Created By: The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations

Original or Replica: Original

Era: Civil Rights, The Presidency

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: Office of the Staff Secretary, Subject Series, Alphabetical Subseries, Box 17, Little Rock Vol. I—Reports (8); NAID #17367081

This February 6, 1958 confidential U.S. Army situation report documents conditions at Little Rock Central High School several months after President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce the school’s integration. The report notes that eight Black students attended school that day, with one absent because of illness, while soldiers from the 153rd Infantry remained stationed at Central High and nearby Camp Robinson. Their continued presence demonstrates that federal and military involvement in the Little Rock Crisis extended well beyond the initial integration of the school in September 1957.

Much of the report records continuing racial harassment directed toward Black students. A military guard witnessed Minnie Brown being followed by white student Frankie Gregg, after which the two exchanged words and Gregg threw her purse into a classroom. Later, Black student Charletta Walls reported being kicked by two white boys. The school also received two bomb threats during the day, prompting searches by police, school personnel, and detectives.

The report describes another incident in which white student Lester Judkins poured soup on Minnie Brown, leading approximately fifteen students to rush toward a telephone booth after learning what had happened. Judkins received a seven-day suspension, while Brown received a three-day suspension for the earlier incident involving Gregg. The document provides a valuable firsthand record of the continued hostility, harassment, security concerns, and federal military presence surrounding the Little Rock Nine during the 1957–1958 school year.