JFK+50 LOOKS BACK 57 YEARS: 1957
NATIONAL GUARD STOPS INTEGRATION IN LITTLE ROCK
Little Rock, Arkansas (JFK+50) Fifty-seven years ago today, September 4, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus directed the Arkansas National Guard to stop nine African-American students from attending the first day of classes at all-white Central High School here in Little Rock.
A Federal District Court had ruled earlier in the year that Central High School was to be desegregated. A crowd of angry white citizens gathered outside the school.
One of the Little Rock Nine, Elizabeth Eckford, said...
"They moved closer and closer. I tried to see a friendly face...in the crowd. I looked into the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind face but when I looked at her again, she spat on me."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower would later send Federal troops to Little Rock to enforce the court order.
EDSEL UNVEILED 57 YEARS AGO
Detroit, Michigan (JFK+50) Ford Motor Company unveiled the Edsel fifty-seven years ago today, September 4, 1957, the first new automobile brand produced by the "Big 3" US automakers since 1938.
The Edsel, named in honor of Edsel B. Ford*, son of Henry Ford, had been presented in advertisements for months with the slogan...
"The Edsel Is Coming".
In the meantime, however, the American economy was slumping. Only 64,000 Edsels were sold in the first year of production. FMC lost $250 million on the new model.
In a documentary on the decade of the 1950s, narrator Dick Cavett said that not only were Edsels not selling...
"they weren't even being stolen."
After the 1960 model year, the Edsel was discontinued.
NATIONAL GUARD STOPS INTEGRATION IN LITTLE ROCK
Little Rock, Arkansas (JFK+50) Fifty-seven years ago today, September 4, 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus directed the Arkansas National Guard to stop nine African-American students from attending the first day of classes at all-white Central High School here in Little Rock.
A Federal District Court had ruled earlier in the year that Central High School was to be desegregated. A crowd of angry white citizens gathered outside the school.
One of the Little Rock Nine, Elizabeth Eckford, said...
"They moved closer and closer. I tried to see a friendly face...in the crowd. I looked into the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind face but when I looked at her again, she spat on me."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower would later send Federal troops to Little Rock to enforce the court order.
President Bill Clinton
September 25, 1997
National Archives Photo
EDSEL UNVEILED 57 YEARS AGO
Detroit, Michigan (JFK+50) Ford Motor Company unveiled the Edsel fifty-seven years ago today, September 4, 1957, the first new automobile brand produced by the "Big 3" US automakers since 1938.
The Edsel, named in honor of Edsel B. Ford*, son of Henry Ford, had been presented in advertisements for months with the slogan...
"The Edsel Is Coming".
In the meantime, however, the American economy was slumping. Only 64,000 Edsels were sold in the first year of production. FMC lost $250 million on the new model.
In a documentary on the decade of the 1950s, narrator Dick Cavett said that not only were Edsels not selling...
"they weren't even being stolen."
After the 1960 model year, the Edsel was discontinued.
"The Edsel"
Photo by Christer Johansson (2006)
*Edsel B. Ford (1893-1943), only child of Clara and Henry Ford was born in Detroit, Michigan. He served as president of FMC from 1919-1943. He helped develop the Ford Model A and was president of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Mr. and Mrs. Edsel B. Ford
Photo by Underwood and Underwood
Library of Congress Image
