Turn Away Thy Son: Little Rock, the Crisis That Shocked the Nation

by Elizabeth Jacoway

In September 1957, the nation was transfixed by nine black students attempting to integrate Central High School in Little Rock in the wake of the Supreme Court's "Brown v. Board of Education" decision. Governor Orval Faubus had defied the city's integration plan by calling out the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the students from entering the school. Newspapers across the nation ran front-page photographs of whites, both students and parents, screaming epithets at the quiet, well-dressed black children. President Eisenhower reluctantly deployed troops from the 101st Air-borne, both outside and inside the school. Integration proceeded, but the turmoil of Little Rock had only just begun. Public schools were soon shut down for a full year. Black students endured outrageous provocation by white classmates. Governor Faubus's popularity skyrocketed, while the landmark case "Cooper v. Aaron" worked its way to the Supreme Court and eventually paved the way for the integration of the south.

Betsy Jacoway was a Little Rock student just two years younger than the youngest of the Little Rock Nine. Her "Uncle Virgil" was Superintendent of Schools Virgil Blossom. Congressman Brooks Hays was an old family friend, and her "Uncle Dick" was Richard Butler, the lawyer who argued "Cooper v. Aaron" before the Supreme Court. Yet, at the time, she was cocooned away from the controversy in a protective shell that was typical for white southern "good girls." Only in graduate school did she begin to question the foundations of her native world, and her own distance from the controversy.

"Turn Away Thy Son" is the product of thirty years of digging behind the conventional account of the crisis, interviewing whites and blacks, officials and students, activists and ordinary citizens. "A tour de force" of history and memory, it is also a brilliant, multifaceted mirror to hold up to America today. She knows what happened to the brave black students once they got inside the doors of the school. She knows how the whites' fear of "race mixing" drove many locals to extremes of anger, paranoia, and even violence. She knows that Orval Faubus was only a reluctant segregationist, and that her own cousin's timid tokenism precipitated the crisis.

Above all, "Turn Away Thy Son" shows in vivid detail why school desegregation was the hottest of hot-button issues in the Jim Crow south. In the deepest recesses of the southern psyche, Jacoway encounters the fear of giving black men sexual access to white women. The truth about Little Rock differs in many ways from the caricature that emerged in the press and in many histories -- but those differences pale in comparison to the fundamental driving force behind the story. "Turn Away Thy Son" is a riveting, heartbreaking, eye-opening book.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race

496 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Steve B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book at the National Park Visitor Center at the Central High School historic site in Little Rock last fall. After visiting the Center and LR CENTRAL HS, I wanted more information on the crisis. Jacoway gives the reader a comprehensive overview of the situation from all perspectives. She delves into the political sides, both, social fabric of Little Rock, national, state and local leaders as well as the Little Rock 9...the true heroes!

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of hearing Terrence Roberts, one of the "Little Rock Nine", share his experiences and two things really stuck with me. 1. There were over 100 students who signed up to go to Central High, but only 9 ended up there. He said he often wondered how different the experience would have been with larger numbers. 2. He mentioned that their parents should have been given awards for bravery as they sent their children to school each day not knowing if they would come home. This book was very interesting in seeing the perspective of policymakers involved and understanding the contributions of so many unsung heroes like these parents.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had hoped to learn more about the lives of the Little Rock Nine and the impacts of the schools being closed for a year, and while this book briefly touched on those topics, it spent so much time delving into the minutiae of the various laws and court cases that the rest got drowned out. An overall timeline would have been very helpful since parts of this jumped around and I had a hard time keeping track of how much time had elapsed. The central idea that the core of the anti-integration movement was actually anti-miscegenation was interesting.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, accessible and extremely interesting look at the school integration crisis in Little Rock from 1957 to 1959. I was familiar with the "Little Rock Nine", of course, but I did not realize the full complexity of the situation and the wide ranging events that took place. Definitely worth reading if you have any interest in the Civil Rights Movement.

[Amanda Irving · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stayed up until 2:35 am this morning to finish this book once and for all. The book was mediocre in the sense that it was dense and, at times, boring with extraneous legal details of the Little Rock Nine Crisis. I was hoping to learn more about the nine individuals as characters. If you want to know more about their endeavors, read Chapter 17, which is the last chapter.

[Mitzi Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a very long time to read this book. The details were overwhelming (and often boring). Still, I know more now than I’ve ever known about the Little Rock Central High crisis.

If you just want to expose yourself to the most impactful parts, read chapter 12 and the Afterword.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

reads like textbook

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A difficult to read account of the forced integration of the white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Gut-wrenching for the horrors inflicted on those black children by white children.

[Sonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A trip to Little Rock rekindled my interest in the story of the Little Rock Nine. I researched to learn more and discovered Turn Away Thy Son. The book’s initial value to me was to fill in a lot of gaps regarding the people, officials, organizations and governments that were involved. But the real value of this book, published 50 years after the initial chaos, is to expand the story beyond the Little Rock Nine and their experiences to the social and political forces that influenced this behavior from then to now.

Incredibly well annotated with 94 pages of references and notes, the book remains an interpretation as much as it is a recapture of a time at a place. Moreover, the story IS complicated. It was astonishingly confusing in the moment and still remains so in the retelling. Nevertheless Jacoway’s effort has elevated my understanding of this sad American story.

[Elizabeth]

As recommended by Ed from the U of C alumni bookclub.

[Jeff Macey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up at page 209 after the millionth time the author gushed about how wonderful Governor Faubus was and that he was not a racist. His actions say the opposite. I was looking for a story about the kids- up until page 209 maybe 2 pages were about the kids. Obviously author Jacoway is a southern appologist trying to rewrite history.