A Life Is More Than a Moment: The Desegregation of Little Rock's Central High

Taken a half-century ago, these photographs depict the desegregation crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was so moved at the beating of veteran Alex Wilson that he ordered 1,200 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, and federalized the Arkansas National Guard to quell the "disgraceful occurrences." A Life Is More Than a Moment carries us back to those painful and turbulent times, but it does not leave us there. In addition to these immortal photos, photographer Will Counts also took new portraits of many of the original subjects when he returned to Little Rock in 1997. Essays by Robert S. McCord, Ernest Dumas, and Will Campbell chart the path leading to the crisis and define its impact on the civil rights movement. This book shows an ugly hatred, but in the end, it is also a book of hope and reconciliation.

Will Counts (1931–2001) attended Little Rock High School (now Little Rock Central High). During the Central High integration crisis between 1957 and 1960 he worked as a photographer for the Arkansas Democrat for which one of his photographs was runner-up for the 1957 Pulitzer Prize in photography.

Will Counts (1931–2001) attended Little Rock High School (now Little Rock Central High). During the Central High integration crisis between 1957 and 1960 he worked as a photographer for the Arkansas Democrat for which one of his photographs was runner-up for the 1957 Pulitzer Prize in photography.