Black high school students who tried to integrate Central High School were collectively known as the:

• A. Freedom Riders
• B. SNCC
• C. Little Rock Nine
• D. Black Panthers

Answer: (C)

Desegregation of public schools after Brown v. Board of Education led to a famous moment when nine African American students attempted to enter Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. This group is known as the Little Rock Nine. They embodied a direct effort to integrate a previously all-white school and became a powerful symbol of federal enforcement of desegregation, especially after President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort them and ensure their safety. The other options refer to different civil rights actions or groups: Freedom Riders challenged bus segregation in the South in 1961, SNCC was the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Black Panthers were a later Black Power group. The term Little Rock Nine specifically names the nine students who integrated Central High School.