Which event in 1957 required federal intervention to allow nine students to attend a desegregated high school?

• A. Freedom Riders
• B. Little Rock Nine
• C. Birmingham Campaign
• D. Selma to Montgomery

Answer: (B)

This focuses on how the federal government intervened to enforce school desegregation after a Supreme Court ruling. In 1957, nine African American students attempted to enroll at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Local authorities, including the Arkansas National Guard under the governor’s orders, blocked their entry. To uphold the ruling from Brown v. Board of Education and protect the students, President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent in federal troops to escort the students and ensure they could attend classes. This event shows the federal government stepping in to enforce civil rights when state resistance blocked integration.

The other events happened at different times and involve different goals: the Freedom Riders challenged segregation on interstate buses in 1961, the Birmingham Campaign occurred in 1963 over segregation in Alabama, and the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 focused on voting rights. None of these depict the 1957 federal intervention to admit nine students to a desegregated high school.