Executive Order 10730: Enforcing Desegregation of Little Rock Central High School

Exploring the Primary Sources That Shaped America
Table of Contents
Executive Order 10730:Enforcing Desegregationof Little Rock CentralHigh School
Overview
Context
About the Author
Explanation and Analysis of theDocument
Audience
Impact
Document Text

  You don't have access to this content. Please try to log in with your institution. Sign In

Abstract

By issuing Executive Order 10730 on September 24, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, where unruly crowds had prevented the desegregation of all-white Central High School. Not since the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War had federal troops gone to the South to maintain law and order. Many southern leaders angrily protested and said that the federal government was intervening in a matter for which state and local officials had exclusive responsibility. Even though Eisenhower’s executive order had the effect of advancing integration, the president was not a strong supporter of civil rights.

Contents