On November 6, 1998,
Congress established Little Rock Central High School National
Historic Site. The National Historic Site is administered in
partnership with the National Park Service, Little Rock Public
Schools, the City of Little Rock, and others.
The Visitor Center
for the site is located diagonally across the street from the
school, and opened in Fall 2007. It contains a captioned
interpretive film on the Little Rock Integration Crisis, as well as
multimedia exhibits on both that and the larger context of
desegregation during the 20th century and the Civil Rights Movement.
Opposite the Visitor
Center is the Central High Commemorative Garden, which features nine
trees and benches that honor the students. Arches that represent the
school's facade contain embedded photographs of the school in years
since the crisis, and showcase students of various backgrounds in
activities together.
Opposite the Visitor
Center in the other direction is a historic Mobil gas station, which
has been preserved in its appearance at the time of the crisis. At
the time, it served as the area for the press and radio and
television reporters. It later served as a temporary Visitor Center
before the new one was built. |