Jacob R. Rightsell, from Matoon, Illinois, came to Little Rock with N.P. Gates when Gates was selected to be the district's first Superintendent. When Gates was chosen to organize the state's new "Industrial University with a Normal Department therein" and left the school district in 1871, Rightsell was made Superintendent. Before becoming Superintendent, Rightsell was assigned to the Peabody School, according to "Assignments for Fall Session, 1870," and later became Principal of Sherman High School. He remained Principal of the high school as well. At the time of his retirement in 1905, the school district had increased to ten schools, including a modern new high school that was considered to be the best in the southwest. Rightsell served as Vice President of the National Education Association for several years and was one of the originators of the State Teachers Association. He died shortly after his retirement in 1905 and is buried in Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock.

Robert Cleveland Hall was a native of Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia and became an educator in his home state before arriving in Arkansas in 1891. He was a well-known educator throughout the South: he taught English, math, science, French and Latin and served as Principal of Peabody High School in Little Rock before being named LRSD Superintendent. During his tenure as Superintendent, 16 new schools were built: 12 elementary schools, two junior high schools, Little Rock [Central] High School (as well as Quigley Stadium) and Dunbar High School. Hall established the first football team in Little Rock and was known as the "Father of the School Board" by many people. In his letter of resignation as Superintendent, he confirmed that he had given 38 years of service to the district (six as Principal of the high school, one year as Principal of U.M. Rose Elementary School and 31 years as Superintendent). He retired because of ill health.

Virgil T. Blossom was born in Brookfield, Missouri. After a brief term as Superintendent in Fayetteville, he became Superintendent of Schools in Little Rock in 1953. Shortly after the Supreme Court found segregation to be unconstitutional, Blossom began working on a plan to integrate Little Rock's public schools. After an unsuccessful court challenge, a plan was put into operation in the fall of 1957 to integrate Little Rock Central High School. Blossom became a central figure in the controversy, and he was removed as Superintendent in November 1958. He wrote an account of the crisis, published first as a series of articles in the Saturday Evening Post (May - June 1959) and then as a book, It Has Happened Here. After a short stay in New York, Blossom went to San Antonio to continue his career in education (he was Superintendent of the North East Independent School District from 1959 to 1964). Papers pertaining to Blossom's career as Superintendent in Little Rock were donated to the University of Arkansas in 1997.