Jerry Jones Little Rock 1957 Photo Resurfaces

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones considered himself a “curious kid” after the Washington Post detailed a photograph showing him among a gathering of white boys standing outside the entry of an Arkansas secondary school as six Black students attempted to be the first to sign up in 1957. Jones told columnists after the Cowboys game on Thursday that he didn’t be aware at the time that a “stupendous” occasion was going on. “I’m certain happy that we’re far from that,” he said.

The Post detailed that the episode happened on Sept. 9, 1957, which was that very month that nine Black students who became known as the Little Rock Nine integrated Little Rock Central Secondary School after President Eisenhower sent government troops to accompany them in. The photograph the Post covered shows Jones and other white students at North Little Rock Secondary School remaining before the entryways of the school as the six Black students attempted to enter.