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

by Elizabeth Jacoway

“This is a mesmerizing and brave book, a story with complicated layers and meaning for all Americans, a heroic saga of progress and its consequences.”
—Ken Burns, director of Jazz and The War
In September 1957 nine black children tried to integrate Arkansas’s Little Rock Central High School in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Claiming he was acting to keep the peace, Gov. Orval Faubus used the Arkansas National Guard to keep them out of the school. After a lengthy standoff, President Eisenhower called in the 101st Airborne and reluctantly, slowly, but forcibly began to integrate the school. The standoff became a rallying cry for Southern segregationists and a marker of the country’s shame. The accounts that have been so mythologized over the years leave people embarrassed and angry, yet the myth is a cardboard cutout of the full story. Turn Away Thy Son , told from the point of view of sixteen key participants, brings the nine students, their tormentors, the school administration, the governor, and the press to vivid life. It shows the truth about Little Rock, beyond the caricatures to the fundamental driving forces that made school desegregation the hottest of hot-button issues in the Jim Crow South. Turn Away Thy Son was originally published by Free Press in 2007.

Winner of the 2008 Booker Worthen Literary Prize.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race

496 pages, Paperback

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.