• Front facade of Little Rock Central High School

    Little Rock Central High School

    National Historic Site Arkansas

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  • Restricted Access to Central High School

    All visitors should park and begin their visit at the National Park Service Visitor Center at 2120 West Daisy Gatson Bates Drive. Do NOT park in front of Central High School or at the Magnolia Gas Station. All school tours require advance reservations.

Womens Emergency Committee and the Lost Year

Flyer for the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools.

Flyer produced by the WEC.

In the fall of 1958, the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools worked to reopen the city's high schools under the district's desegregation plan. Click here for more information about this organization and the Lost Year.
 
Newspaper advertisement from the Women's Emergency Committee urging voters to recall segregationist school board members, 1959.

Women's Emergency Committee Roster
For 40 years the membership of the WEC remained secret. In 1998, former members compiled a list from individual membership cards and released it to the public as a tribute to all the women who joined. Click here to see a list of the members.

Please email us with updates to the list. Note that many of the women are listed by their married names, because that is how they listed themselves on the membership cards.

Did You Know?

The Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site visitor center

Central High School NHS's former visitor center was located in a restored service station across the street from the high school.  The building is under renovation to become an education center. Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site