Charleston

History

Charleston was platted in 1870. In 1954, Charleston was the first school district in the former Confederate States to implement school integration in response to Brown v. Board of Education. On July 27, 1954, the school board, including President Howard Madison Orsburn, George Hairston, Archibald Schaffer, Herbert Shumate, and Homer Keith, unanimously voted to "disband the Colored School and admit the Colored children into the grade and high school when classes open for the fall semester." Accordingly, when the schools opened on August 23, 11 black children were in attendance alongside 480 whites. School Superintendent Woodie Haynes made an agreement with the local press not to cover the event, and stonewalled any outside reporters that asked questions. The decision to integrate had financial benefits, as the district had been paying a considerable sum to transport black high school students to Fort Smith, and were able to close the old Rosenwald school. During the Civil Rights era, the city was among a few Southern cities which surprisingly showed little resistance to integration. Charleston suffered some discrimination from other schools and the state; many schools refused to play football against them and the band was denied the opportunity to play in some band competitions. In 1961, the first two black students to graduate from Charleston were Barbara (Williams) Dotson and Joe Ferguson.

Geography

Charleston is in southwestern Franklin County, along Arkansas Highway 22, which leads east to Ratcliff and west to Fort Smith. According to the United States Census Bureau, Charleston has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.53%, is water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• CHARLESTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · CHARLESTON · 454 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• CHARLESTON HIGH SCHOOL
  High · CHARLESTON · 435 students · 8.4:1 ratio
• COUNTY LINE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · BRANCH · 311 students · 14.1:1 ratio