You are here
1957 - First Day of Integration at Charlotte Schools
September 4, 1957: Three years after the US Supreme Court decision in favor of desegregation, four courageous young people change Charlotte forever when they become the first black students to enroll in all-white schools.
- The harassment Dorothy Counts (pictured) endures leads her to leave Harding High School a few days later. The national publicity surrounding her ordeal alarms the white business community who then work to avoid such events.
- The other three students—Delois Huntley, Gus Roberts, and Girvaud Roberts—finish the year.
- Gus Roberts is the only one among them to graduate from the school he desegregates.