Governor Faubus Closes Little Rock Schools Rather Than Desegregate

Rather than comply with federal desegregation orders in fall 1958, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus closes all four Little Rock public high schools for the entire 1958-59 school year. 3,665 students — Black and white — lose a year of education. Some white students attend private segregation academies; Black students have virtually no options. The closure, called the 'Lost Year,' demonstrates the lengths to which segregationists would go to deny Black children equal education.