Resources Related to Cooper v. Aaron, UALR Altheimer Symposium

Sixty years ago, John and Thelma Aaron and others filed suit in federal court in Arkansas for the purpose of integrating Arkansas schools.

The resulting U.S. Supreme Court case, Cooper v. Aaron, established the supremacy of the federal constitution as well as the supremacy of the Supreme Court in interpreting the Constitution.

The issues raised by Cooper are still the subject of vibrant debate. Increasingly, state and local officials seek to avoid enforcing or following federal mandates ranging from the same-sex marriage decision in Obergefell v. Hodges to the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate in NFIB v. Sebelius.

The Altheimer Symposium on September 28 will discuss the history and impact of Cooper v. Aaron, the local significance of the case, and its continuing vitality in an age of political and legal polarization.

The experts at the Butler Center’s Encyclopedia of Arkansas have compiled a list  of our most helpful entries to provide background on Cooper v. Aaron.

Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Cooper v. Aaron

Aaron v. Cooper
Branton, Wiley
Butler, Richard C.
Central High School, desegregation of
Civil Rights and Social Change
Davies, Ronald Norwood
Little Rock Nine
Miller, John Elvis
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Segregation and Desegregation
State Sovereignty Commission

Books Relating to the Landmark Cooper v. Aaron Supreme Court Decision

Anderson, Karen. Little Rock: Race and Resistance at Central High School. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.

Freyer, Tony.  The Little Rock Crisis: A Constitutional Interpretation. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984.

———. Little Rock on Trial: Cooper v. Aaron and School Desegregation. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2007.

Jacoway, Elizabeth. Turn Away Thy Son: Little Rock, the Crisis That Shocked the Nation. New York: Free Press, 2007.

Kilpatrick, Judith. There When We Needed Him: Wiley Austin Branton, Civil Rights Warrior. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2007.

Kirk, John A. Beyond Little Rock: The Origins and Legacies of the Central High Crisis. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2007.

———. Redefining the Color Line: Black Activism in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1940–1970. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002.

Kirk, John A., ed. An Epitaph for Little Rock: A Fiftieth Anniversary Retrospective on the Central High Crisis. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2008.

Reed, Roy. Faubus: The Life and Times of an American Prodigal. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1997.

Stockley, Grif. Daisy Bates: Civil Rights Crusader from Arkansas. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005.