As an historian, you want to understand the past better than most people. You're not interested in stereotypes and sound bites, but the details and human decisions that create history.

Specifically, you want to understand how actions in the past can be viewed as a "chain of events:" how some things happen and then lead up and make then next events happen. Think of it as tipping over a row of dominoes with each domino standing for a particular event.

If you can present the history of the Little Rock incident as a "cause and effect" relationship, then you can help your group compare yesterday's history to today's reality. Your expertise could guide your group to a better solution. So crack the books, click the Net and switch on your brain.

1. Read the Web pages linked below. If you print out the files, underline the passages that you feel are the most important. If you look at the pages on the computer, copy sections you feel are important by dragging the mouse across the passage and copying / pasting it into a word processor or other writing software.

2. Note: Remember to write down or copy/paste the URL of the file you take the passage from so you can quickly go back to it if you need to prove your point.

3. Be prepared to focus what you've learned into an explanation answering:

   What are the cause and effect chain of events that changed the Little Rock Nine from being abused to honored?

   As with all historians, you will have to read between the lines to come to your interpretation.

Internet Resources

Use the Internet information linked below and these questions to guide your investigation of the Little Rock Nine:

1. What made the students want to attend Central High?
2. What are some details of the events that happened in 1957?
3. How did the incident end and what message did that send to the country?
4. How are the Little Rock Nine viewed in the 1990s?
5. Cluster the most important events that caused new ways of thinking about the Little Rock incident and the people involved.

• CentralHigh57.org
• Video of Ernest Green from CentralHigh57.org
• School Integration in Little Rock, by Lisa Cozzens
• Central High 1957 Photo, Seattle Times
• Ernest Green Project - Intensive English Institute, University of Maine
• Interview with Ernest Green from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Little Rock 9 recognized for heroism
• Bill to award Congressional gold medals to Little Rock Nine
• White House Release on making Central High an historic site

Go to the Cause & Effect scaffold page to sharpen your ideas.