Ruby Bridges

CTL-E-5347 · Person · activist · 1960–present

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

Ruby Bridges is an American civil rights activist who, as a six-year-old first grader, became a defining figure of school desegregation in the American South. Born on September 8, 1954, in Tylertown, Mississippi, she moved with her family to New Orleans, Louisiana, at age four. On November 14, 1960, escorted by four federal marshals, she became the only Black student to enroll at the previously all-white William Frantz Elementary School, the youngest of a small group of African American children assigned to integrate New Orleans schools by court order. White parents withdrew their children, and for a full school year she was taught alone by Barbara Henry, the one teacher willing to teach her, attending every day despite daily protests and threats. She later worked as a travel agent, raised four children, and in 1999 founded the Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance, respect, and appreciation of difference through education. She received the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001 and continues to speak and write for young readers about courage and equality.

The record

• Also known as: Ruby Nell Bridges, Ruby Bridges Hall, Ruby Nell Bridges Hall

Notes

Statistics: Born September 8, 1954, Tylertown, Mississippi (Britannica) · Integrated William Frantz Elementary on November 14, 1960, at age six, escorted by 4 federal marshals (Britannica) · Taught alone for 1 school year by Barbara Henry (Britannica) · Founded the Ruby Bridges Foundation in 1999 (Britannica Kids / foundation accounts) · Presidential Citizens Medal, 2001 · Curator's Judgment: DRAFT — for founder review: Bridges belongs in CTL's Black Chicago-adjacent national canon because her walk made federal enforcement of Brown visible in a single child. Her record should stay child-honest and unsentimental: the marshals, the empty classroom, and the attendance record are the evidence. · Photo slot: CLEARED CANDIDATE — Wikimedia Commons File:US Marshals with Young Ruby Bridges on School Steps.jpg, Uncredited DOJ photographer (restored by Adam Cuerden), Public domain, license verified from Commons API metadata on 2026-10-15; direct URL https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/US_Marshals_with_Young_Ruby_Bridges_on_School_Steps.jpg; not downloaded — visual pass follows merge per standing pattern. Note: Norman Rockwell's famous painting of Bridges is NOT free and was not used.

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Ruby Bridges" — https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ruby-Bridges
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, "What did Ruby Bridges accomplish?" — https://www.britannica.com/question/What-did-Ruby-Bridges-accomplish
• Britannica Kids, "Ruby Bridges" — https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Ruby-Bridges/487557

Record CTL-E-5347 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 3 sources · CTL research: PPL-001.
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