Ruby Bridges | Social Activist (2024)

FAQs

How did Ruby Bridges become an activist? ›

Ruby Bridges (born September 8, 1954, Tylertown, Mississippi, U.S.) American activist who became a symbol of the civil rights movement and who was, at age six, the youngest of a group of African American students to integrate schools in the American South.

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.

Ruby had to be escorted to school by federal mashals for the entire school year. She was the only student in the classroom with teacher Barbara Henry, the only teacher willing to accept her, and she spent most of her lunches and recesses alone. In spite of all this, Ruby showed up every day, ready to learn.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Ruby later wrote about her early experiences in two books and received the Carter G. Woodson Book Award. A lifelong activist for racial equality, in 1999, Ruby established The Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance and create change through education.

Ruby Nell Bridges Hall (born September 8, 1954) is an American civil rights activist.

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.

Ruby Bridges is still alive and is sixty-six years old. She has worked as a civil right activist her whole life. Throughout her life, Bridges has received many honors and awards.

Ruby Bridges helped reform education to where it is now. No more white schools or African-American schools, just one school of all the future generations together as one. Later in life Ruby Bridges created a foundation called the Ruby Bridges Foundation.

Why do we celebrate Ruby Bridges? ›

Every year on November 14, Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day honors the power of dialogue and movements built by young people, and the wisdom young people have to change the world — just as Ruby Bridges did when she took her historic walk to school on November 14, 1960, at just six years old.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tops most lists of influential Black civil rights activists. If there is one person from the Civil Rights Movement who created lasting change, it's King.

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.

In November 1960, Ruby Bridges, a Kindergartner, faced hatred, protests, and death treats as she entered William Frantz Elementary as the first black child there. She attended class completely alone that year and needed to be escorted into the school by U.S. Marshals on a daily basis for the much of the school year.

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.

No, Ruby Bridges did not attend college. However, she has earned to honorary degrees for her work as a civil rights activist. Bridges' honorary degrees were awarded from Connecticut College and Tulane University.