24 Facts About Ruby Bridges

Ruby Nell Bridges Hall was born on September 8,1954 and is an American civil rights activist.

Ruby Bridges was the first African American child to attend formerly whites-only William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis on November 14,1960.

Ruby Bridges is the subject of a 1964 painting, The Problem We All Live With, by Norman Rockwell.

When she was four years old, the family relocated from Tylertown, Mississippi, where Ruby Bridges was born, to New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ruby Bridges was born during the middle of the Civil Rights Movement.

In early 1960, Ruby Bridges was one of six black children in New Orleans to pass the test that determined whether they could go to the all-white William Frantz Elementary School.

Two of the six decided to stay at their old school, Ruby Bridges went to Frantz by herself, and three children were transferred to the all-white McDonogh No 19 Elementary School.

Yet Ruby Bridges remained the only child in her class, as she would until the following year.

Every morning, as Ruby Bridges walked to school, one woman would threaten to poison her, while another held up a black baby doll in a coffin.

Ruby Bridges met with her weekly in the Bridges home, and in 1995 wrote a children's book, The Story of Ruby Bridges, to acquaint other children with Bridges's story.

The Ruby Bridges family suffered for their decision to send her to William Frantz Elementary: 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, who were sharecroppers in Mississippi, were turned off their land; and Abon and Lucille Ruby Bridges separated.

Ruby Bridges has noted that many others in the community, both black and white, showed support in a variety of ways.

Ruby Bridges says her family could never have afforded the dresses, socks, and shoes that are documented in photographs of her escort by US Marshals to and from the school.

Ruby Bridges is chair of the Ruby Bridges Foundation, which she formed in 1999 to promote "the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences".

Hurricane Katrina greatly damaged William Frantz Elementary School, and Ruby Bridges played a significant role in fighting for the school to remain open.

In 2010, Ruby Bridges had a 50th year reunion at William Frantz Elementary with Pam Foreman Testroet, who had been, at the age of five, the first white child to break the boycott that ensued from Ruby Bridges's attendance at that school.

On July 15,2011, Ruby Bridges met with President Barack Obama at the White House, and while viewing the Norman Rockwell painting of her on display he told her, "I think it's fair to say that if it hadn't been for you guys, I might not be here and we wouldn't be looking at this together".

On January 8,2001, Ruby Bridges was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton.

In November 2006, Ruby Bridges was honored as a "Hero Against Racism" at the 12th annual Anti-Defamation League "Concert Against Hate" with the National Symphony Orchestra, held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

On May 19,2012, Ruby Bridges received an honorary degree from Tulane University at the annual graduation ceremony at the Superdome.

On February 4,2016, Ruby Bridges was the recipient of the John Steinbeck Award at San Jose State University.

On November 9,2023, Ruby Bridges was awarded the Robert Coles Call of Service Award by the Phillips Brooks House Association at Harvard University, and gave the corresponding lecture at Memorial Church.

On March 5,2024, Ruby Bridges was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony honored Ruby Bridges alongside renowned tennis player Serena Williams.