U.S. General Services Administration
GSA and the Courts Preserve the Historic Courtroom and Bench from Desegregation Case for the Little Rock Nine
At GSA, we know we are doing something right when our work gets highlighted at the highest levels of government. In this case, by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr., in his 2002 Year-end Report which was issued at the end of 2022.
Specifically highlighted was GSA 's partnership with Judge Price Marshall of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas with the building out of the Era Faithful Courtroom that will one day display the historic Cooper Bench and tell the story of the Little Rock Nine.
The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine black students who enrolled at the formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in September 1957. Their attendance at the school was a test of the Brown vs. Board of Education landmark Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. Then-lawyer Thurgood Marshall argued the landmark case where the state’s attempts to delay integration and the students attending Central High School led to the Cooper vs. Aaron Supreme Court ruling.
The Era Faithful Courtroom will be a replication of the historic courtroom where the Little Rock Nine or the Cooper vs. Aaron case was held in GSA's Richard Sheppard Arnold U.S. Courthouse in Little Rock, Arkansas. In an effort to preserve the historic significance of this case and its role in the civil right movement, GSA is in the process of renovating an existing non-historic courtroom into a civic learning center/Era-Faithful Courtroom, which will resemble a circa-1957 courtroom. The renovated space will be a living monument to the rule of law.
“The project aligns with GSA’s commitment to preserving America's historic building legacy while also allowing us the opportunity to capture the essence of the historic Cooper v. Aaron case,” said GSA Regional Commissioner Giancarlo Brizzi.
Artifacts from the auxiliary courtroom, including but not limited to the Judge’s bench with the base and the Clerk’s bench, will be used and displayed in the era-faithful courtroom. The courtroom will be used by the District Court to hold hearings in civil and criminal cases regularly. The courtroom will also be used as a civic learning center open to the public. Educational displays will illuminate the rule of law, the Cooper case, Justice Marshall’s service as a lawyer, and the federal courts.
The Eastern District of Arkansas will host high school students competing in the National High School Mock Trial Competition in May 2023. Those students, their teachers, Judges, and other participants will tour the renovated space, view some of the Cooper artifacts, and learn from educational displays. The Cooper Bench is currently on loan to the Supreme Court for an exhibit in the Fall of 2023 to educate the public of the Little Rock Nine and the importance of the Court's role in our history.