Little Rock High School, in all its grand Gothic Revival style, was built in 1927. At the time, Little Rock was a rival to Atlanta to be the most important city in the south, and they wanted to attract white families there. By 1957, there were four public high schools in Little Rock, two black and two white. None had the teaching staff, sports programs and scholarly achievements of Little Rock Central High. The Little Rock School Board voted to allow what they called “gradual integratio