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

A lifetime's work shows in this excellent history of the Little Rock desegregation crisis. The superb writing and in-depth research make this a great read. I would differ with the emphasis of her general thesis about the role of protecting Southern womanhood, but this is niggling. What is important is that Betsy has written the definitive story of Little Rock's sad time and the first chapter of the history of modern desegregation confrontations in America.

I attended Little Rock Central High School as a sophomore in the 1957-58 school year, and during the intervening five decades I have often attempted to make sense of the bewildering events that occurred at my school then and that gained such massive international attention. After all of these years, a talented and meticulous historian has finally created the definitive history of this crucial episode in recent American life. Drawing upon her exhaustive research of the primary documents and by conducting a huge number of interviews with most of the principal participants in the Central High crisis, Elizabeth Jacoway has written the book that should achieve recognition as the single work requiring citation whenever a future historian undertakes a serious examination of the integration of Central High. In this volume readers will encounter the naivete, bumbling ineptitude, treachery, malevolence, sporadic acts of grace and heroism, or misguided policies and decisions of so many of the major community, state, and national leaders and officials of the 1950's. Congratulations to Professor Jacoway for possessing the dedication, courage, and persistence necessary to produce this seminal work of history. Charles Chappell Professor of English Hendrix College Conway, Arkansas

This wonderful piece of scholarship is not in keeping with our time. Today, we are asked to look to crack-pot talking heads on television who are experts-on-nothing with opinions on everything, and who think every issue can be reduced to an eight-second sound bite, plus three more seconds for the personal insult. This incredible work is nothing like that. Dr. Jacoway approaches the subject matter like the trained historian that she is: fairly, dispassionately, and factually. Her uncle is a key player, and even he gets no pass. This is the story of a train wreck - the Little Rock desegregation crisis. The characters are huge. There is Harry Ashmore, editor of the editorial page of the Arkansas Gazette, who was always the darling of Little Rock's goat cheese liberals, but who in fact was self-important, self-congratulatory, and self-absorbed. When he wasn't editorializing, he was giving speeches to Democratic Party groups, conduct which would be considered appalling by what little passes as journalistic standards today. There is Virgil Blossom, school superintendent (and the author's uncle) who comes across as a nervous and manic Mr. Whipple of please-don't-squeeze-the-Charmin fame. There is Congressman Brooks Hays, trying very hard to be the peace maker between Faubus and Eisenhower, but who in fact was unsuccessful in doing so, and accordingly, had to resort to making it up as he went along. There is the Establishment, school board members and attorneys, all claiming to be doing the right thing, but some of whom had noses so high in the air they would drown in a drizzle. There is Jim Johnson, a lieutenant of Gerald L.K. Smith, and an unreconstructed racist who, along with his wife, had more in common with Juan and Eva Peron than main-stream white middle class Americana. There is U.S. District Judge John Miller whose ex parte communications with the school district attorneys would get him in serious ethical trouble by today's standards. And then, there is Orval Eugene Faubus. I have often characterized Faubus as the Darth Vadar of Southern politics. This book brings that image home in a more authentic way than I had ever imagined. It reinforces the point made by Roy Reed in his magnificent biography, that Faubus's journey to the dark side was uncomplicated and breathtakingly political. Without pointing fingers, the author reports that Faubus accused Blossom and others of "double-crossing" him in publicly down-playing the facts and circumstances of the "crisis" and the extent of potential violence, thereby failing to give Faubus cover. Whether as a consequence of their public views or whether it was strictly retaliatory to gain political advantage (my personal view), or whether for some other reason, the author does not say. To do so would be an attempt to read the mind of a mastermind of politics. But,the author reports that the next thing that happened, quite literally, was Faubus's calling out the National Guard. The rest, as they say, is histor

Even in politically-charged 2007, what Elizabeth Jacoway has written is an honest, behind-the-scenes look at one of the darkest periods of American history. This is a must read book, especially for African Americans, because it shows us why we should be steadfastly embracing educational and economic opportunities before us and not browbeating each other. Racism, segregation, etc., has left segments of our society forever scarred. "Turn Away Thy Son" is the American history that you won't get from a public school history book.

Those of us who grew up in Central Arkansas during the Central High crisis formed our opinions from what our families believed about what was happening, what they believed about race, what we saw on television, and what we read in either the "liberal" Arkansas Gazette or "conservative" Arkansas Democrat. The received wisdom then and now has been that Orval Faubus exploited the limited integration of Central High for personal political gain. Jacoway's extensive research into both primary and secondary sources illuminates the truly Byzantine complexity of the situation. Given the racial attitudes of those who accepted integration at the time as an undesirable, but legally necessary, step, it may be true that, as one source quoted in the book states, sending 9 children into Central was doomed from the beginning--sending 300 would have been the only strategy that might have worked. The virulent racism of the many who opposed any degree of integration, combined with the shrinking reticence of the few who understood it was legally necessary, left no chance of success. Jacoway shows that few, if any, of the adult players were completely blameless. While one could perhaps argue with Jacoway's interpretation of some individuals' motives, the lengthy bibliography and notes prove that she has excelled in the historian's task of considering all sources in an attempt to recreate the reality of this tumultuous time in our history. Those looking for a novelistic treatment, with heroes and villains and a compressed timeline hitting only the high spots, will find this volume overfilled with detail. Those wishing to understand all the forces which combined to turn Little Rock from a moderate, progressive small Southern city into an international symbol of racism and violence will appreciate the thoroughness and richness of detail in Dr. Jacoway's solid history.