Ruby Nell Bridges Hall
Personal Information
Born: 1954
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Black
Education
Has a high school education
Professional Life
Field of Study: Civil Rights Activism
Institution/Corporation: Ruby Bridges Foundation
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degrees: Connecticut College (1995 with Robert Coles), Tulane University (2012), college of New Rochelle, Columbia University Teacher's College
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2001 Presidential Citizens Medal; 2000 Honorary Deputy US Marshall; 2006 named Hero Against Racism; 2023 Robert Coles Call of Service Award, Phillips Brooks House Association at Harvard University; Carter G. Woodson Book Award; NAACP Martin Luther King Award; 2020 named 1 of USA Today's 100 Women of the Century
Achievements: at 6-years-old 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; is the subject of a 1964 painting, The Problem We All Live With, by Norman Rockwell; is now chair of the Ruby Bridges Foundation, which she formed in 1999 to promote "the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences" through education & she notes "racism is a grown-up disease and we must stop using our children to spread it;"has written 4 books about her life
faced racism every day at school
had to be accompanied to & from school by Federal Marshalls for the 1st year
was the only student in her 1st grade class because all white children were removed by their parents
1995 Children's Museum of Indianapolis opened an exhibit recreating her 1st grade classroom
1999 her autobiography "Through My Eyes" recounting her experiences in integrating the school was published in 1999
2014 a statue of her was unveiled outside William Frantz Elementary School, the school she integrated
was the oldest of 8 children born to her parents who were sharecroppers in Mississippi until moving to New Orleans in 1958
her father worked in a service station & her mother worked at various domestic jobs in the evenings
1st year in school she was taught b Barbara Henry a white teacher who came from Boston who was the only teacher at the school willing to teach her, they have been life-long friends & tour together speaking about their experiences & racism
family moved to New Orleans 1958
as a child helped care for her younger siblings & enjoyed playing jump rope, softball & climbing trees
attended a segregated school for kindergarte
was 1 of 6 Black children who passed the test to attend a white elementary school
on her walk to school the 1st year a white woman threatened to poison her while another held up a coffin containing a Black doll
due to threats she was not allowed to eat anything she didn't bring to school from home or attend recess
spme negative consequences of her desegregation were both her parents lost their jobs, her local grocery banned the family, her grandparents were evicted from the land they had worked as sharecroppers in Mississippi, & her parents separated
white child psychiatrist Robert Coles provided the entire family with free counseling & wrote numerous articles about them & racism which were eventually published again in book form, he donated the proceeds from his 1995 book about Ruby to her & she used the funds to help establish her foundation in 1999
after high school she worked as a travel agent & travelled the world for 15 years before becoming a full-time mother
a song "Ruby's shoes" & a Disney movie "Ruby Bridges" are about her
2010 had a 50-year reunion with Pan Foreman Testroet the 1st white child to break the boycott & go to school with her
a school in Alameda California & one in Woodinville Washington are named for her
1 of Robert Coles' relatives anonymously provided the outfits she wore to school
1993 her brpother was murdered & she raised his 4 daughters who attended Willian Frantz elementary School
after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 the school was set to be demolished but she fought to have it restored & it remains open
November 14 is Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day since 2018