Ruby Bridges
First African American child to integrate a New Orleans elementary school.
Ruby Nell Bridges Hall (born September 8, 1954) is an American civil rights activist. On November 14, 1960, she became the first African American child to attend the previously all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana, during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis. She is also the subject of Norman Rockwell’s 1964 painting *The Problem We All Live With*.
Bridges was the oldest of five children. As a young child, she cared for her siblings and enjoyed playing jump rope, softball, and climbing trees. When she was four, her family moved from Tylertown, Mississippi, to New Orleans. In 1960, at age six, her parents volunteered her to integrate the New Orleans school system at the request of the NAACP, despite her father’s hesitation.
Bridges was born during the Civil Rights Movement. The *Brown v. Board of Education* ruling, which declared segregated public schools unconstitutional, came just three months and twenty-two days before her birth. Southern states resisted the decision, and in 1957 federal troops were sent to Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect the Little Rock Nine. Under federal pressure, the Orleans Parish School Board created an entrance exam intended to keep Black children out of white schools.
Bridges attended a segregated kindergarten in 1959. In early 1960, she was one of six Black children in New Orleans to pass the test for William Frantz Elementary. Two of the six stayed at their old school; Bridges went to Frantz alone; and three other girls—Gail Etienne, Leona Tate, and Tessie Prevost—were sent to McDonogh No. 19 Elementary. Federal marshals escorted all four six-year-olds on their first day and continued to do so afterward.
Bridges’s mother insisted the move was necessary to give her daughter a better education and to advance opportunities for all African American children, and she convinced her reluctant husband to agree. On November 14, 1960, Judge J. Skelly Wright’s integration order took effect. Bridges later recalled thinking the angry crowd outside the school was like Mardi Gras. Deputy Marshal Charles Burks remembered that she never cried or whimpered, but walked “like a little soldier.”
Once Bridges entered the school, white parents pulled their children out, and all but one teacher refused to teach her. Barbara Henry, a teacher from Boston, taught Bridges alone for over a year, treating her “as if she were teaching a whole class.” On the first day, Bridges and her mother spent it in the principal’s office; they moved to the classroom the next day. On the second day, a white student broke the boycott when Methodist minister Lloyd Anderson Foreman walked his five-year-old daughter Pam through the mob, saying he simply wanted to take his child to school. Soon other white parents followed, and protests eased.
Bridges remained the only child in her class until the following year. Each morning, one woman threatened to poison her, and another held up a black baby doll in a coffin. U.S. Marshals allowed Bridges to eat only food from home, and she was barred from recess. Child psychiatrist Robert Coles volunteered to counsel her weekly at her home. In 1995, he wrote *The Story of Ruby Bridges*, donating its royalties to the Ruby Bridges Foundation to fund school supplies for impoverished New Orleans students.
The Bridges family paid a heavy price: her father lost his job at a gas station, the family was banned from their grocery store, her grandparents were evicted from their Mississippi land, and her parents separated. Bridges has noted that many in the community, both Black and white, offered support.
- born
- September 8, 1954
- field
- Civil rights activism
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- First African American child to integrate William Frantz Elementary School in Ne
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Ruby Bridges was the eldest of five children born to Abon and Lucille Bridges. When she was four years old, the family relocated from Tylertown, Mississippi, to New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1960, at age six, her parents responded to a request from the NAACP and volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans school system, though her father was hesitant. She attended a segregated kindergarten in 1959, and in early 1960 she was one of six black children in New Orleans to pass the test determining whether they could attend the all-white William Frantz Elementary School. Two of the six stayed at their old school; Bridges went to Frantz alone, while three other girls—Gail Etienne, Leona Tate, and Tessie Prevost—were transferred to the all-white McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School. All four 6-year-old girls were escorted by federal marshals on their first day. On November 14, 1960, Bridges entered William Frantz Elementary. White parents pulled their children out, and all teachers except one—Barbara Henry, from Boston—refused to teach a black child. For over a year, Henry taught Bridges alone, "as if she were teaching a whole class." Bridges and her mother spent the first day in the principal's office; on the second day, a white student broke the boycott when a 34-year-old Methodist minister, Lloyd Anderson Foreman, walked his five-year-old daughter Pam through the angry mob, saying, "I simply want the privilege of taking my child to school." Bridges remained the only child in her class until the following year. She faced daily threats, including a woman who threatened to poison her and another who held up a black baby doll in a coffin. U.S. Marshals allowed her to eat only food from home and barred her from recess. Child psychiatrist Robert Coles provided counseling and later wrote a children's book, The Story of Ruby Bridges, donating royalties to the Ruby Bridges Foundation. The Bridges family suffered: her father lost his job as a gas station attendant, the grocery store the family shopped at would no longer let them shop there, her grandparents—sharecroppers in Mississippi—were turned off their land, and Abon and Lucille Bridges separated. Some community members showed support, including a neighbor who provided her father with a new job.
Reader's Guide
Ruby Bridges's significance lies in her role as a symbol of the federal enforcement of school desegregation after Brown v. Board of Education. Her solitary attendance at William Frantz Elementary, under the protection of federal marshals, highlighted the intense resistance to integration in the South and the personal costs borne by those who challenged it. The Norman Rockwell painting The Problem We All Live With, published in Look magazine on January 14, 1964, immortalized her walk to school and became an iconic image of the civil rights movement. Bridges's later work through the Ruby Bridges Foundation, formed in 1999, promotes "the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences." Her story has been adapted into a 1998 made-for-TV movie, Ruby Bridges, and a children's book by Robert Coles. In November 2007, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis unveiled a permanent exhibit documenting her life, including an authentic re-creation of her first grade classroom. In 2010, Bridges had a 50th year reunion at William Frantz Elementary with Pam Foreman Testroet, the first white child to break the boycott. On July 15, 2011, she met President Barack Obama at the White House, where the Rockwell painting was displayed in the West Wing just outside the Oval Office. Bridges lost her home in Eastern New Orleans to catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and played a significant role in fighting for William Frantz Elementary to remain open.
Did You Know?
- Ruby Bridges was the eldest of five children and spent much time taking care of her younger siblings, though she also enjoyed playing jump rope and softball and climbing trees.
- On her first day at William Frantz Elementary, Bridges thought the angry crowd outside was Mardi Gras, saying, "Driving up I could see the crowd, but living in New Orleans, I actually thought it was Mardi Gras."
- Former U.S. Deputy Marshal Charles Burks recalled of Bridges, "She showed a lot of courage. She never cried. She didn't whimper. She just marched along like a little soldier."
- The immaculate clothing Bridges wore in photographs from her first weeks at Frantz was sent to her family by a relative of child psychiatrist Robert Coles; Bridges says her family could never have afforded those dresses, socks, and shoes.
- On January 8, 2001, Bridges was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Ruby Bridges?
Ruby Nell Bridges Hall is an American civil rights activist born on September 8, 1954. She is best known for her role in the 1960 New Orleans school desegregation crisis.
What is Ruby Bridges most famous for?
On November 14, 1960, she became the first African American child to enroll at William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana, a school that had previously admitted only white students.
How old was Ruby Bridges when she integrated the school?
She was six years old at the time, having been born in 1954 and attending the school in 1960.
Why is Ruby Bridges considered important in civil rights history?
Her enrollment at a formerly segregated school in New Orleans made her a central figure in the broader struggle to end racial separation in American public education. Her story became a widely recognized symbol of courage during the civil rights movement.
Is Ruby Bridges depicted in any well-known artwork?
Yes, Norman Rockwell painted her in his 1964 illustration titled The Problem We All Live With, which shows her walking to school past a hostile crowd.
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