The ongoing struggle for all Americans to enjoy full and unfettered equality traces back centuries. Yet the middle of the 20th century was a pivotal period in American history when some of the biggest gains were made in terms of legal advances and societal change. The list of individuals who helped make this possible spans from Rosa Parks to Martin Luther King, Jr., not to mention countless others both well known and unknown to history books who forged ahead for civil rights.
Real change has come in fits and starts, often measured by the passage of landmark laws or historic firsts in social or political arenas. Other moments in the civil rights movement were memorialized by marches and demonstrations. Yet many would say that one of the most important events during the civil rights movement happened at a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court decided in its historic Brown V. Board of Education ruling that "separate but equal” was an unconstitutional precept and therefore schools would have to be racially integrated. But not all schools complied with the law.
Little Rock Central High School was still segregated three years on. This changed on September 23, 1957, when nine African American students were escorted by Little Rock police into the school against the violent outcry of angry mobs. Beginning the following day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower invoked the use of the military to ensure the safety of the nine brave students. Collectively known to history as “The Little Rock Nine,” the nine students became symbols for racial integration and civil rights progress throughout Arkansas and beyond.
The United States Mint marked the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School with a commemorative silver dollar in 2007. The obverse by Richard Masters depicts the shoed feet of the Little Rock Nine alongside their booted military escort. The reverse design by Don Everhart is anchored by an elevational view of Little Rock Central High School. The coin was struck in uncirculated and proof formats, with 66,093 strikes of the former and 124,678 of the latter. Various PCGS Set Registry categories accommodate the 2007 Little Rock Central High School Dollar. This affords collectors many opportunities to include a numismatic homage to the important moment in American history memorialized on this symbolic silver dollar.