Carlotta Walls LaNier Dress and Diploma
On September 4, 1957, Carlotta Walls LaNier wore this dress as she and eight other African American students attempted to integrate Little Rock Central High School. Dubbed the “Little Rock Nine,” Carlotta and her classmates were the first black students to attend the Little Rock, Arkansas school system. Their first school day would prove one of the most haunting events of the Civil Rights Movement.
In anticipation of the “Little Rock Nine’s” attendance at Central High School, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to bar them from entering the school on their first day of classes. Faubus, an outspoken segregationist, believed racially motivated violence would follow forced integration and therefore claimed segregation in the interest of public safety.
An angry segregationist mob swells at Little Rock Central High on the black students’ first day prompting escort of the students away from the school for their safety. President Dwight D. Eisenhower nationalizes the Arkansas National Guard, and deploys the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock. Only then did Carlotta Walls and her fellow black students gain safe entry to classes at Little Rock High School on September 25, 1957.
Carlotta Walls’ dress and diploma are physical links to the pivotal events taking place in Little Rock during autumn 1957, and to the “Little Rock Nine’s” bravery in the face of violence and prejudice. Visitors to the National Museum of African American History and Culture can see this dress, and other artifacts Carlotta Wall LaNier donated to the collection.
The dress and diploma pictured above are now in the collection of theSmithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visitors to the museum can view these objects in the “Defining Freedom, Defending Freedom: The Era of Segregation” exhibition.Credits and Sources:
2012.117.1ab - Skirt and blouse worn by Carlotta Walls to Little Rock Central High School, 1957. Created by: Sportswear by Sheinberg. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Carlotta Walls LaNier.
2012.117.3 - Diploma for Carlotta Walls from Little Rock Central High School, July 8, 1960. Issued by: Little Rock Central High School. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Carlotta Walls LaNier.
National Park Service. "Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)." National Park Service. December 27, 2015. Accessed January 4, 2016. http://www.nps.gov/chsc/index.htm.
Sheire, James. "Little Rock Central High School NRHP Nomination." Accessed January 4, 2016. http://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/nrhp/text/77000268.pdf.
