Ruby Bridges | Social Activist (2024)

FAQs

Ruby Bridges | Social Activist? ›

At the tender age of six, Ruby Bridges advanced the cause of civil rights in November 1960 when she became the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the South.

In 1960, she was chosen to attend the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, thrusting her into the center of a heated struggle for racial equality. Ruby's journey to school was fraught with adversity, as she braved a gauntlet of angry protesters who spewed hateful insults and threats.

Ruby Nell Bridges Hall is an American Hero. She was the first African American child to desegregate William Frantz Elementary School. At six years old, Ruby's bravery helped pave the way for Civil Rights action in the American South.

Bridges' father was initially reluctant, but her mother felt strongly that the move was needed not only to give her own daughter a better education, but to "take this step forward ... for all African-American children". Her mother finally convinced her father to let her go to the school. Judge J.

When she was four years old, her family moved to New Orleans. Two years later a test was given to the city's African American schoolchildren to determine which students could enter all-white schools. Bridges passed the test and was selected for enrollment at the city's William Frantz Elementary School.

A lifelong activist for racial equality, in 1999, Ruby established The Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance and create change through education. In 2000, she was made an honorary deputy marshal in a ceremony in Washington, DC.

On November 14, 1960, at the age of six, Ruby became the very first African American child to attend the all-white public William Frantz Elementary School. Ruby and her Mother were escorted by federal marshals to the school.

She showed unforgettable loving forgiveness and courage when faced with the ugly screaming White mobs who jeered and taunted her every day as she walked into William Frantz Elementary School. Federal marshals had to escort Ruby to school, but she never quit or turned back.

Ruby's messages of tolerance and mutual respect are so urgent right now. Equal access to a quality education for all children remains the unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement and the nation. Our country must wake up and stop the backwards slide away from fair treatment for poor and non-White children.

Bridges was the youngest and first of the Black children to desegregate an all-white school in the South. She has been a civil rights activist since the age of six. She is the oldest of five children and was born into poverty. She moved to New Orleans, Louisiana when she was four.

Did Ruby Bridges miss a day of school? ›

She was a class of one and ate lunch alone, but she never missed a day of school. Some families supported her bravery. Others continued to protest. And the Bridges family suffered for their courage.

1. “Don't follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail. When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength and conviction, the only thing that can stop you is you!”

Answer and Explanation: Malcolm Bridges's, Ruby's younger brother's, death inspired her to establish the Ruby Bridges Foundation. She is currently a promoter of education and helps educate destitute, orphaned, and needy children.

Ruby Bridges got married to Malcolm Hall and had four sons. In 1993, her brother was shot and killed in New Orleans. Ruby's family went to New Orleans to take care of his daughters. In 1999, she wrote a children's book, "Through My Eyes", telling her story and what she went through.

Answer and Explanation: Following her marriage to Malcolm Hall, Ruby Bridges had four sons. Her sons are named Sean Hall, Christopher Hall, and Craig Hall, as well as a fourth, publicly unnamed son. Bridges son Craig Hall was killed in a street shooting in New Orleans in 2005.

Ruby Nell Bridges was born on September 8, 1954, in Tylertown, Mississippi. She grew up on the farm her parents and grandparents sharecropped in Mississippi.

Learning that you can never judge anyone from the outside was the first lesson of that tumultuous year. A second was that we must all “become brothers and sisters.” “We must absolutely take care of one another. It does take a village, but we have to be a village first.

The museum provides virtual museum tours and programs. Learn more about Ruby Bridges and her work by visiting the Ruby Bridges Foundation. Wear purple! It's Ruby's favorite color.

Ruby wants to hear from you!

To connect with the Ruby Bridges Foundation, you can email walktoschoolday@rubybridges.foundation.

Forty years after breaking the segregation barrier in New Orleans, Ruby Bridges was badged as an honorary deputy marshall for her inspiration and courage for our nation. On October of 2003 she received the Legacy of Caring Award as well as the United States Presidential Citizens Medal in January 2001.