Desegregation of Charleston Schools Public Art

This public art installation on the side of Charleston Middle School commemorates the end of maintaining racially segregated schools in the city. Charleston became the first city of the former Confederacy to respond to the historic 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board to decide to end segregation in all of their schools and begin plans to integrate all grades.

In July of 1954, Charleston's five school board members met and voted unanimously to have the eleven African American students in the district attend school alongside white students. Superintendent Woodrow Haynes worked with local newspaper reporters and business leaders to keep the decision private in hopes of reducing the likely backlash and national attention.

There were some protests by white parents and incidents of racist graffiti that were quickly removed. Charleston also found that area teams refused to play their integrated squads while the band was excluded from competitions. The measure also resulted in the closure of the town's small Rosenwald School and the dismissal of Black educators. At the same time, integration made it possible to complete high school in the area and they also no longer had to attend a separate graduation at Fort Smith. The first two African American students graduated in 1961 from Charleston High School.

“Desegregation of Charleston Schools.” Encyclopedia of Arkansas, 4 June 2019, encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/desegregation-of-charleston-schools-730/.

John Kirk On February 2, et al. “Beyond Little Rock.” Arkansas Times, 2 Feb. 2017, arktimes.com/news/cover-stories/2017/02/02/beyond-little-rock.