Reforming the Negative through History: The U.S. Information Agency and the 1957 Little Rock Integration Crisis

Abstract

During the cold war, the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) used documentary films to explain America's race relations to the rest of the world. In 1963, the USIA was able to address race problems more directly after President Kennedy sponsored significant civil rights legislation. Although U.S. presidents considered the use of military force to promote integration a domestic political failure, a popular subject for USIA films was the 1957 Little Rock integration crisis in which President Eisenhower used federal troops to protect nine teenagers who integrated Central High School. This article traces the use of this domestic policy failure in five USIA documentaries, examining the political influences on the films and evaluating the documentaries' success in addressing the nation's race problems for overseas audiences.