Ruby Bridges: Difference between revisions
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==Adult life== |
==Adult life== |
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[[File:Ruby |
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[[File:Ruby Bridges 21 Sept 2010.JPG|right|thumb|Ruby Bridges Hall in 2010]] |
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She still lives in New Orleans with her husband Malcolm Hall and their four sons.<ref>[http://www.cbn.com/special/BlackHistory/UnderGod_RubyBridges.aspx "In a Class of Only One: Ruby Bridges"]. ''CBN''.</ref> For 15 years Hall worked as a travel agent, later becoming a full-time parent. She 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". Describing the mission of the group, she says, "racism is a grown-up disease and we must stop using our children to spread it."<ref name="foundation">[http://www.rubybridges.org/home.htm The Ruby Bridges Foundation]</ref> |
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In 1993, Bridges Hall began looking after her recently orphaned nieces, then attending William Frantz Elementary as their aunt had before them. She began to volunteer as a parent liaison three days a week. Eventually, publicity related to Coles' book caused reporters to locate Bridges Hall and write stories about her volunteer work at the school, which in turn led to a reunion with teacher Henry. Henry and Bridges Hall now sometimes make joint appearances in schools in connection with the Bridges Foundation.<ref name="gp-p7">Bridges Hall, ''Guideposts'', p. 7.</ref> |
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Bridges is the subject of the [[Lori McKenna]] song "Ruby's Shoes." Bridges's childhood struggle at William Frantz Elementary School was portrayed in the 1998 made-for-TV movie ''[[Ruby Bridges (film)|Ruby Bridges]]''. Bridges was portrayed by actress Chaz Monet; the movie starred [[Lela Rochon]] as Ruby's mother, Lucille 'Lucy' Bridges, [[Michael Beach]] as Ruby's father, Abon Bridges as well as [[Penelope Ann Miller]] as Ruby's teacher, Mrs. Henry, and [[Kevin Pollack]] as Dr. Robert Coles. |
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On January 8, 2001, Bridges was awarded the [[Presidential Citizens Medal]] by President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>{{cite web |
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| url = http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/new/html/Mon_Jan_8_141714_2001.html |
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| title = President Clinton Awards the Presidential Citizens Medals |
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| accessdate = 2009-03-11 |
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| date = 2001-01-08 |
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| publisher = The White House (whitehouse.gov), archived by the National Archives and Records Administration (nara.gov) |
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| location = Washington, D.C |
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}}</ref> |
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Like hundreds of thousands of others in the greater New Orleans area, she lost her home (in [[Eastern New Orleans]]) to the catastrophic flooding in the [[2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans|failure of the levee system during Hurricane Katrina]] in 2005. |
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In October, 2006, the [[Alameda Unified School District]] dedicated a new elementary school to Ruby Bridges, and issued a proclamation in her honor. |
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In November 2006 she was honored in the Anti-Defamation League's Concert Against Hate. |
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In 2007 the [[Children's Museum of Indianapolis]] unveiled a new exhibit documenting Bridges' life, along with the lives of [[Anne Frank]] and [[Ryan White]]. |
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[[File:Ruby Bridges and Obama.jpg|left|thumb|Bridges meets with President Obama and discusses her portrait on the wall.]] |
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In 2010, she had a 50th year reunion at Frantz Elementary with Pam Foreman Testroet, who, at age 5, was the first white child to break the boycott that ensued from Bridges' attendance at that school.<ref name="cbs" /> Bridges continues to tour as an inspirational speaker against racism. In 2011, she visited St. Paul's Episcopal School, a K-8 school in Oakland, CA. Her visit coincided with the unveiling of the Remember Them humanitarian monument by Mario Chiodo, which includes a sculpture of the young Ruby Bridges. |
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==Biographical movie== |
==Biographical movie== |
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Revision as of 18:23, 4 October 2012
Ruby Bridges Hall | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 8, 1954 Tylertown, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Occupation | philanthropist |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Website | www |
Ruby Nell Bridges Hall (born September 8, 1954) is known as the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school in the South.[1] She attended William Frantz Elementary School at 3811 North Galvez Street, New Orleans, LA 70117.[2][3]
Early life
Hall was born in Tylertown, Mississippi to Abon and Lucille Bridges. When she was 4 years old, the family relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1960, when she was 6 years old, her parents responded to a call from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans School system.
Integration
In Spring 1960, Ruby Bridges was one of several black children in New Orleans to take a test to determine which children would be the first to attend integrated schools. Six students were chosen; however, two students decided to stay at their old school, and three were transferred to Mcdonough. Ruby was the only one assigned to William Frantz. Her father initially was 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."[4]
The court-ordered first day of integrated schools in New Orleans, November 14, 1960, was commemorated by Norman Rockwell in the painting The Problem We All Live With.[5] As Bridges describes it, "Driving up I could see the crowd, but living in New Orleans, I actually thought it was Mardi Gras. There was a large crowd of people outside of the school. They were throwing things and shouting, and that sort of goes on in New Orleans at Mardi Gras."[5] Former United States Deputy Marshal Charles Burks later recalled, "She showed a lot of courage. She never cried. She didn't whimper. She just marched along like a little soldier, and we're all very proud of her."[6]
As soon as Bridges got into the school, white parents went in and brought their own children out; all teachers refused to teach while a black child was enrolled. They hired Barbara Henry, from Boston, Massachusetts, to teach Bridges, and for over a year Mrs. Henry taught her alone, "as if she were teaching a whole class." That first day, Bridges and her adult companions spent the entire day in the principal's office; the chaos of the school prevented their moving to the classroom until the second day. Every morning, as Bridges walked to school, one woman would threaten to poison her;[7] because of this, the U.S. Marshals dispatched by President Eisenhower, who were overseeing her safety, only allowed Ruby to eat food that she brought from home. Another woman at the school put a black baby doll in a wooden coffin and protested with it outside the school, a sight that Bridges Hall has said "scared me more than the nasty things people screamed at us." At her mother's suggestion, Bridges began to pray on the way to school, which she found provided protection from the comments yelled at her on the daily walks.[8]
Child psychiatrist Robert Coles volunteered to provide counseling to Bridges during her first year at Frantz. He met with her weekly in the Bridges home, later writing a children's book, The Story of Ruby Bridges, to acquaint other children with Bridges' story.
The Bridges family suffered for their decision to send her to William Frantz Elementary: her father lost his job, and her grandparents, who were sharecroppers in Mississippi, were turned off their land. She has noted that many others in the community both black and white showed support in a variety of ways. Some white families continued to send their children to Frantz despite the protests, a neighbor provided her father with a new job, and local people babysat, watched the house as protectors, and walked behind the federal marshals' car on the trips to school.[5][9]
Adult life
[[File:Ruby
Biographical movie
- Disney's "Ruby Bridges: A Real American Hero", The Wonderful World of Disney, 1998
References
- ^ The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education, p. 169
- ^ Miller, Michelle (2010-11-12). "Ruby Bridges, Rockwell Muse, Goes Back to School". CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
- ^ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Google Maps. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
- ^ Ruby Bridges Hall. "The Education of Ruby Nell," Guideposts, March 2000, pp. 3-4.
- ^ a b c Charlayne Hunter-Gault. "A Class of One: A Conversation with Ruby Bridges Hall," Online NewsHour, February 18, 1997 Cite error: The named reference "newshour" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Susannah Abbey. Freedom Hero: Ruby evans bridges
- ^ Excerpts from Through My Eyes, at African American World for Kids
- ^ Bridges Hall, Guideposts p. 4-5.
- ^ Bridges Hall, Guideposts p. 5.
Further reading
- Bridges Hall, Ruby. Through My Eyes, Scholastic Press, 1999. (ISBN 0590189239)
- Coles, Robert. The Story of Ruby Bridges, Scholastic Press, 1995. (ISBN 0590572814)
- Steinbeck, John. Travels with Charley in Search of America, Viking Adult, 1962. (ISBN 0670725080)
- The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education, John Wiley & Sons, 2004. (ISBN 0471649260)
External links
