Photograph, Governor Faubus
Object number2003.087.12
Date1959
Mediumpaper
Dimensions8 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (21.6 x 16.5 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum collection
DescriptionBlack and white photographic print of Governor Orval Faubus on August 12, 1959 taken at a television appearance concerning the Central High desegregation crisis.Oravl Eugene Faubus was born on January 7, 1910 in Madison County. In 1955, he defeated Pratt Remmel for the governorship becoming the thirty-sixth governor of Arkansas. While in office Faubus improved public education including pay increases for teachers, began an overhaul of the State Hospital for the mentally ill, built the Arkansas Children’s Colony, expanded state parks, and paved hundreds of miles of highway. The defining moment of Faubus’ political career was the desegregation of Central High School in September in 1957. On September 2 Faubus called the National Guard to arms to prevent the admission of nine black students to Central High School on the basis that violence threatened and the National Guard was needed to preserve the peace. A federal judge ordered the removal of the National Guard. After local police were unable to control the crowds at Central High School, President Dwight D. Eisenhower deployed the National Guard in order to restore order and enforce the court’s ruling. In a vain attempt to stop further integration, Little Rock voted to close its schools for the following year, however, bad publicity and economic decline led to the schools being reopened with token integration. He left office in 1967, and died on December 14, 1994.
Status
Not on view
1 January 1965
1 January 1965
January 13, 2015