Little Rock Central High was one of the first previously all-white high schools to desegregate. The city's violent reaction and a governor's blatant defiance of presidential orders make it the most famous school-desegregation story of the Civil Rights Movement. Since that date in 1957, the school has maintained a strong academic record and remains one of the best schools in Arkansas.

Civics students at Central conduct interviews with their elders about changes in the history of civil rights and write essays about these interviews for a class assignment. Stemming from an initiative of the Library of Congress in the 1990s, the Central High Memory Project houses and stores these essays. It has grown from a website into a book, Beyond Central, Toward Acceptance, and this website will feature annual web addendums to the book.