Editing Ruby Bridges

{{Short description|American civil rights activist (born 1954)}}
{{Pp-semi-indef}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2022}}
{{For|the 1998 television film|Ruby Bridges (film){{!}}''Ruby Bridges'' (film)}}
{{Infobox person
|name            = Ruby Bridges
|birth_name      = Ruby Nell Bridges
|image           = File:Ruby Bridges (16264182739).jpg
|caption         = Bridges speaking at [[Texas A&M University–Commerce]] in February 2015
|birth_date      = {{Birth date and age|1954|09|08}}
|birth_place     = [[Tylertown, Mississippi]], U.S.
|occupation      = Philanthropist, activist
|years_active    = 
|spouse          = Malcolm Hall
|children        = 4
|website         = {{URL|www.rubybridges.com}}
}}

'''Ruby Nell Bridges Hall''' (born September 8, 1954) is an American civil rights activist. She was the [[List of African American firsts|first African American]] child to attend formerly [[White people|whites]]-only [[William Frantz Elementary School]] in [[Louisiana]] during the [[New Orleans school desegregation crisis]] on November 14, 1960.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=James |last2=Byrne |first2=Dara N. |year=2004 |title=The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education |location=Hoboken, NJ |publisher=J. Wiley & Sons |page=169 |isbn=9780471649267 |oclc=53038681}}</ref><ref name="cbs">{{cite news |first=Michelle |last=Miller |title=Ruby Bridges, Rockwell Muse, Goes Back to School |url= https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ruby-bridges-rockwell-muse-goes-back-to-school/ |work=CBS Evening News with Katie Couric |publisher=CBS Interactive Inc. |date=November 12, 2010 |access-date=January 18, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/14/us/ruby-bridges-desegregation-60-years-trnd/index.html|title = 60 years ago today, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges walked to school and showed how even first graders can be trailblazers| date=November 14, 2020 }}</ref> She is the subject of a 1964 painting, ''[[The Problem We All Live With]]'', by [[Norman Rockwell]].

==Early life==
Bridges was the eldest of five children born to Abon and Lucille Bridges.<ref name="Ruby Bridges">{{cite web |url=https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ruby-bridges |title=Ruby Bridges |last=Michals |first=Debra |date=2015 |website=National Women's History Museum |language=en |access-date=November 15, 2018}}</ref> As a child, she spent much time taking care of her younger siblings,<ref name="Nell">{{cite web |url=http://rubybridges.com:80/story.htm |title=The Education of Ruby Nell |last=Bridges Hall |first=Ruby |date=March 2000 |access-date=November 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511010423/http://rubybridges.com/story.htm |archive-date=May 11, 2012 |publisher=as published in Guideposts |url-status=dead }}</ref> though she also enjoyed playing jump rope and softball and climbing trees.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.childrensmuseum.org/blog/10-facts-about-ruby-bridges |title=10 Facts about Ruby Bridges {{!}} The Children's Museum of Indianapolis |website=www.childrensmuseum.org |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref> When she was four years old, the family relocated from [[Tylertown, Mississippi]], where Bridges was born, to [[New Orleans, Louisiana]]. In 1960, when she was six years old, her parents responded to a request 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, even though her father was hesitant.<ref>{{cite book |title=Through my eyes |url=https://archive.org/details/throughmyeyes00brid_0 |url-access=registration |last=Bridges |first=Ruby |publisher=Scholastic Press |year=1999 |isbn=0545708036 |edition=1st |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/throughmyeyes00brid_0/page/11 11] |oclc=981760257}}</ref>

==Background==
Bridges was born during the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' was decided three months and twenty-two days before Bridges's birth.<ref name="Council">{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-aftermath.html |title=The Aftermath – Brown v. Board at Fifty: "With an Even Hand" {{!}} Exhibitions – Library of Congress |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=[[Library of Congress]] |date=November 13, 2004 |language=en |access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref> The court ruling declared that the establishment of separate public schools for white children, which black children were barred from attending, was unconstitutional; accordingly, black students were permitted to attend such schools. Though the ''Brown v. Board of Education'' decision was finalized in 1954, southern states were extremely resistant to the decision that they must integrate within six years.<ref name="Ruby Bridges"/> Many white people did not want schools to be integrated and, though it was a federal ruling, state governments were not doing their part in enforcing the new laws. In 1957, federal troops were ordered to [[Little Rock, Arkansas]], to escort the [[Little Rock Nine]] students in combating violence that occurred following the decision.<ref name="Council"/> Under significant pressure from the federal government, the [[Orleans Parish School Board]] administered an entrance exam to students at Bridges's school with the intention of keeping black children out of white schools.

==Integration==
[[File:William Franz Elemetary School NOLA Pauline Galvez 2.JPG|thumb|William Frantz Elementary School building in 2010]]

Bridges attended a segregated [[kindergarten]] in 1959.<ref name="Ruby Bridges"/> In early 1960, Bridges was one of six black children in New Orleans to pass the test that determined whether they could go to the all-white [[William Frantz Elementary School]]. Two of the six decided to stay at their old school, Bridges went to Frantz by herself, and three children (Gail Etienne, Leona Tate and Tessie Prevost) were transferred to the all-white [[McDonogh 19 Elementary School|McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School]]. All four 6-year-old girls were escorted to school by [[United States Marshals Service|federal marshals]] during the first day they attended the two schools. In the following days of that year, federal marshals continued to escort them.

Bridges's 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&nbsp;... for all African-American children". Her mother finally convinced her father to let her go to the school.<ref name="gp-p3-4">Ruby Bridges Hall. "The Education of Ruby Nell," ''Guideposts'', March 2000, pp. 3–4.</ref>

Judge [[J. Skelly Wright]]'s court order for the first day of integrated schools in New Orleans on Monday, November 14, 1960, was commemorated by [[Norman Rockwell]] in the painting, ''[[The Problem We All Live With]]'' (published in [[Look (American magazine)|''Look'' magazine]] on January 14, 1964).<ref name="newshour">Charlayne Hunter-Gault. [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues-jan-june97-bridges_2-18/ "A Class of One: A Conversation with Ruby Bridges Hall,"] Online NewsHour, February 18, 1997</ref> As Bridges describes it, "Driving up I could see the crowd, but living in New Orleans, I actually thought it was [[New Orleans Mardi Gras|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."<ref name="newshour"/> 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 very proud of her."<ref name="abbey">Susannah Abbey. [http://myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=rubybridges Freedom Hero: Ruby Bridges]</ref>

[[File:US Marshals with Young Ruby Bridges on School Steps.jpg|right|thumb|U.S. Marshals escorted Bridges to and from school in 1960]]

As soon as Bridges entered the school, white parents pulled their own children out; all the teachers except for one refused to teach while a black child was enrolled. Only one person agreed to teach Bridges, and that was [[Barbara Henry]], from [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], and for over a year Henry taught her alone, "as if she were teaching a whole class."{{Attribution needed|reason=What is the source of this quote?|date=August 2023}}

That first day, Bridges and her mother spent the entire day in the principal's office; the chaos of the school prevented their moving to the classroom until the second day. On the second day, however, a white student broke the boycott and entered the school when a 34-year-old Methodist minister, Lloyd Anderson Foreman, walked his five-year-old daughter Pam through the angry mob, saying, "I simply want the privilege of taking my child to school". A few days later, other white parents began bringing their children, and the protests began to subside.<ref name="cbs" /><ref>Ellen Blue, ''St. Mark's and the Social Gospel: Methodist Women and Civil Rights in New Orleans, 1895–1965'', pp. 161–162 (University of Tennessee Press, 2011).</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 19, 2019 |title=The Longest Walk: How A Kindergartener Became A Civil Rights Ally |url=https://www.wwno.org/arts-culture/2019-04-19/the-longest-walk-how-a-kindergartener-became-a-civil-rights-ally|quote=[Pam Foreman Testroet]: I had recess, even though it was just me. [...] I didn't understand why we couldn't play together, I mean we were the only two kids in school, but even then they kept us separate. |access-date=January 23, 2024 |publisher=[[WWNO|WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio]] |first=Sarah |last=Holtz |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327170145/https://www.wwno.org/arts-culture/2019-04-19/the-longest-walk-how-a-kindergartener-became-a-civil-rights-ally|archive-date=March 27, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>

Yet Bridges remained the only child in her class, as she would until the following year. Every morning, as Bridges walked to school, one woman would threaten to poison her, while another held up a black baby doll in a coffin.<ref name="wnet">[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/history/spotlight_september3.html Excerpts from ''Through My Eyes''], at African American World for Kids {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527190805/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/history/spotlight_september3.html |date=May 27, 2007}}</ref> This led the U.S. Marshals dispatched to oversee her safety to only allow Bridges to eat the food that she brought from home,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biography.com/activist/ruby-bridges |title=Ruby Bridges Biography |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=August 28, 2019 |website=Biography.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=September 28, 2019}}</ref> and she was not allowed to participate in recess.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remember Them |url=http://www.remember-them.org/bridges.htm |access-date=August 14, 2023 |website=www.remember-them.org}}</ref>

[[Child psychiatry|Child psychiatrist]] [[Robert Coles (psychiatrist)|Robert Coles]] volunteered to provide counseling to Bridges during her first year at Frantz. He met with her weekly in the Bridges home, and in 1995 wrote a children's book, ''The Story of Ruby Bridges'', to acquaint other children with Bridges's story.<ref name="TB">{{cite news |last=Bennett |first=Lennie |date=April 22, 2015 |title=The Icon in the Image |url=https://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/visualarts/civil-rights-icon-ruby-bridges-hall-discusses-norman-rockwells-famous/2226397 |work=Tampa Bay Times |location=Tampa Bay, FL |page=1A |access-date=November 15, 2018}}</ref> Coles donated the royalties from the sale of that book to the Ruby Bridges Foundation, to provide money for school supplies or other educational needs for impoverished New Orleans school children.<ref name="Judson"/>

The Bridges family suffered for their decision to send her to William Frantz Elementary: her father lost his job as a gas station attendant;<ref name="CBN">{{cite web |url=http://www.cbn.com/special/BlackHistory/UnderGod_RubyBridges.aspx |title=In a Class of Only One: Ruby Bridges|last1=Mac |first1=Toby |last2=Tait |first2=Michael |website=www.cbn.com |publisher=Christian Broadcasting Network |access-date=November 15, 2018}}</ref> the grocery store the family shopped at would no longer let them shop there; her grandparents, who were [[Sharecropping|sharecroppers]] in Mississippi, were turned off their land; and Abon and Lucille Bridges separated.<ref name="Judson"/>

Bridges 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.<ref name="newshour"/><ref name="gp-p5">Bridges Hall, ''Guideposts'' p. 5.</ref> It was not until Bridges was an adult that she learned that the immaculate clothing she wore to school in those first weeks at Frantz was sent to her family by a relative of Coles. Bridges says her family could never have afforded the dresses, socks, and shoes that are documented in photographs of her escort by U.S. Marshals to and from the school.<ref name="TB"/>

==Adult life==
As of 2004, Bridges, now Ruby Bridges Hall, still lived in New Orleans with her husband, Malcolm Hall, and their four sons.<ref name="CBN"/>{{better source needed|date=March 2023}} After graduating from a desegregated high school, she worked as a travel agent for 15 years and later became a full-time parent.<ref name="Ruby Bridges"/> 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">{{cite web|url=http://www.rubybridges.org/home.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20070929012417/http://www.rubybridges.org/home.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 29, 2007|title=The Ruby Bridges Foundation|access-date=November 15, 2014}}</ref>

Bridges is the subject of the [[Lori McKenna]] song "Ruby's Shoes".<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Neill|first=Bill |date=September 26, 2002 |title=Songs of kinfolk |url=https://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20020926/NEWS01/309269969 |work=Cape Cod Times |location=Hyannis, MA |access-date=November 15, 2018}}</ref> Her childhood struggle at William Frantz Elementary School was portrayed in the 1998 made-for-TV movie ''[[Ruby Bridges (film)|Ruby Bridges]]''. The young Bridges was portrayed by actress Chaz Monet, and the movie also featured [[Lela Rochon]] as Bridges's mother, Lucille "Lucy" Bridges; [[Michael Beach]] as Bridges's father, Abon Bridges; [[Penelope Ann Miller]] as Bridges's teacher, Mrs. Henry; and [[Kevin Pollak]] as Dr. Robert Coles.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138068/?ref_=nv_sr_1 |title=Ruby Bridges |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.imdb.com|access-date=November 15, 2018}}</ref>

Like hundreds of thousands of others in the greater New Orleans area, Bridges lost her home (in [[Eastern New Orleans]]) to catastrophic flooding from the [[2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans|failure of the levee system during Hurricane Katrina]] in 2005.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} Hurricane Katrina also greatly damaged [[William Frantz Elementary School]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Desegregation Landmark in New Orleans Again Offers Education – and Healing {{!}} National Trust for Historic Preservation |url=https://savingplaces.org/stories/desegregation-landmark-new-orleans-education-healing |access-date=August 14, 2023 |website=National Trust for Historic Preservation |language=en-US}}</ref> and Bridges played a significant role in fighting for the school to remain open.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16636708/ns/nbc_nightly_news_with_brian_williams/t/whatever-happened-ruby-bridges/#.WsKqDNPwbEY |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127011511/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16636708/ns/nbc_nightly_news_with_brian_williams/t/whatever-happened-ruby-bridges#.WsKqDNPwbEY |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 27, 2017 |title=Whatever happened to Ruby Bridges? |date=January 16, 2007 |work=msnbc.com |access-date=May 6, 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

In November 2007, the [[Children's Museum of Indianapolis]] unveiled a new permanent exhibit documenting her life, along with the lives of [[Anne Frank]] and [[Ryan White]]. The exhibit, called "The Power of Children: Making a Difference", cost $6 million to install and includes an authentic re-creation of Bridges's first grade classroom.<ref name="Pollack">{{cite news |last=Pollack |first=Susan R. |date=October 31, 2007 |title=The 'Power of Children' opens in Indianapolis |work=The Detroit News |location=Detroit, MI |page=Features section, 3E}}</ref>

In 2010, Bridges had a 50th year reunion at William Frantz Elementary with Pam Foreman Testroet, who had been, at the age of five, the first white child to break the boycott that ensued from Bridges's attendance at that school.<ref name="cbs" />

[[File:Ruby Bridges and Obama.jpg|right|thumb|Bridges and President [[Barack Obama]] view the [[The Problem We All Live With|painting]] by [[Norman Rockwell|Rockwell]] in the White House. ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCsJ-24MdZc video])]]

On July 15, 2011, Bridges met with President [[Barack Obama]] at the [[White House]], and while viewing the Norman Rockwell painting of her on display he told her, "I think it's fair to say that if it hadn't been for you guys, I might not be here and we wouldn't be looking at this together".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCsJ-24MdZc |title=Ruby Bridges visits with the President and her portrait |publisher=YouTube |date=July 15, 2011 |access-date=November 15, 2014}}</ref> The Rockwell painting was displayed in the [[West Wing]] of the White House, just outside the [[Oval Office]], from June through October 2011.<ref name="Brown">{{cite news |last=Brown |first=DeNeen L. |date=August 29, 2011 |title=Norman Rockwell painting of Bridges is on display at the White House |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/norman-rockwell-painting-of-ruby-bridges-is-on-display-at-the-white-house/2011/08/26/gIQA66QhlJ_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=November 6, 2018}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
In September 1995, Bridges and Robert Coles were awarded honorary degrees from [[Connecticut College]] and appeared together in public for the first time to accept the awards.<ref name="Judson">{{cite news |last=Judson |first=George |date=September 1, 1995 |title=Child of Courage Joins Her Biographer; Pioneer of Integration Is Honored With the Author She Inspired |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/01/nyregion/child-courage-joins-her-biographer-pioneer-integration-honored-with-author-she.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=November 16, 2018}}</ref>

Bridges's ''Through My Eyes'' won the [[Carter G. Woodson Book Award]] in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.socialstudies.org/awards/woodson/winners |title=Carter G. Woodson Book Award and Honor Winners |website=National Council for the Social Studies |date=June 3, 2008 |access-date=January 3, 2019}}</ref>

On August 10, 2000, the 40 year anniversary of her walk into [[William Frantz Elementary School]], Deputy Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] made Ruby Bridges an [[United States Marshals Service#Deputy Marshals|Honorary Deputy U.S. Marshal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usmarshals.gov/who-we-are/about-us/history/historical-reading-room/ruby-bridges-honorary-deputy |title=Ruby Bridges: Honorary Deputy |date=August 9, 2000 |publisher=United States Marshals Service (usmashals.gov) |access-date=September 26, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2000/August/466dag.htm |title=Deputy Attorney General Holder to Honor Civil Rights Pioneer Ruby Bridges at Ceremony at Corcoran Gallery of Art |publisher=United States Department of Justice (justice.gov) |access-date=September 26, 2022}}</ref>

On January 8, 2001, Bridges was awarded the [[Presidential Citizens Medal]] by President [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/new/html/Mon_Jan_8_141714_2001.html |title=President Clinton Awards the Presidential Citizens Medals |date=January 8, 2001 |publisher=The White House (whitehouse.gov), archived by the National Archives and Records Administration (nara.gov) |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=March 11, 2009 |archive-date=August 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801215612/http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/new/html/Mon_Jan_8_141714_2001.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In November 2006, Bridges was honored as a "Hero Against Racism" at the 12th annual [[Anti-Defamation League]] "Concert Against Hate" with the [[National Symphony Orchestra]], held at the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts|Kennedy Center]] in [[Washington, DC]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=ADL Heroes Against Hate to Be Honored at Kennedy Center |agency=U.S. Newswire|date=November 14, 2006}}</ref>

On May 19, 2012, Bridges received an [[honorary degree]] from [[Tulane University]] at the annual graduation ceremony at the [[Mercedes-Benz Superdome|Superdome]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=May 19, 2012 |title=Tulane distributes nearly 2,700 degrees today in Dome – EPA administrator will speak to grads |url=https://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2012/05/tulane_university_awards_nearl_1.html |work=The Times-Picayune |location=New Orleans, LA |page=A05 |access-date=November 15, 2018}}</ref>

On February 4, 2016, Bridges was the recipient of the [[John Steinbeck Award]] at [[San Jose State University]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ruby Bridges |url=https://www.steinbeckaward.com/awardees/ruby-bridges |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=The John Steinbeck Award |language=en-US}}</ref>  The award is given to those who capture "[[John Steinbeck|Steinbeck’s]] empathy, commitment to democratic values, and belief in the dignity of people who by circumstance are pushed to the fringes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The John Steinbeck Award |url=https://www.steinbeckaward.com/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=The John Steinbeck Award |language=en-US}}</ref>

On November 9, 2023, Bridges was awarded the Robert Coles ''Call of Service'' Award by the [[Phillips Brooks]] House Association at [[Harvard University]], and gave the corresponding lecture at [[Memorial Church of Harvard University|Memorial Church]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2023 |title=17th Annual Robert Coles Call of Service Lecture, followed by Alumni Weekend |url=https://pbha.my.salesforce-sites.com/donate/CnP_PaaS_EVT__ExternalRegistrationPage?event_id=a2I7V0000024MhNUAU |access-date=November 9, 2023 |website=Phillips Brooks House Association Inc.}}</ref>

On March 5, 2024, Bridges was inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]]. The induction ceremony honored Bridges alongside renowned tennis player [[Serena Williams]]. This recognition highlights Bridges's significant contributions to civil rights and education in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/serena-williams-ruby-bridges-will-inducted-national-womens-hall-fame-rcna125677 |title=Serena Williams and Ruby Bridges will be inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame |agency=Associated Press |date=November 17, 2023 |access-date=March 7, 2024 |work=NBC News}}</ref>

Two elementary schools are named after Bridges: one in [[Alameda, California]], and another in [[Woodinville, Washington]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Hegarty |first=Peter |date=October 31, 2006 |title=Civil rights icon attends dedication: Ruby Bridges, namesake of new Alameda elementary school, broke racial barrier as a 6-year-old in 1960|work=Alameda Journal |location=Alameda, CA |page=News section, A1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Northshore's newest elementary school is named Ruby Bridges Elementary |url=https://www.nsd.org/n/~board/district-news/post/northshores-newest-elementary-school-is-named-ruby-bridges-elementary |website=[[Northshore School District]] |access-date=September 5, 2020 |date=December 10, 2019}}</ref> A statue of Bridges stands in the courtyard of William Frantz Elementary School.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2014/11/new_ruby_bridges_statue_inspir.html|title=New Ruby Bridges statue inspires students, community|work=NOLA.com|date=November 15, 2014 |access-date=November 15, 2014}}</ref> When asked what she hopes children will feel when seeing the statue, she responded:

{{Blockquote|text=I think kids will look at it and think to themselves, 'I can do something great too.' Kids can do anything, and I want them to be able to see ''themselves'' in the statue. Hopefully that will remind [them that they] can change the world.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Samuel |title=A New Statue Honors a Civil Rights Hero |url=https://kpcnotebook.scholastic.com/post/new-statue-honors-civil-rights-hero-0 |website=Scholastic Kids Press |access-date=14 August 2023 |date=November 24, 2014}}</ref>}}

==Published works==
* {{Cite book |last=Bridges |first=Ruby |year=1999 |title=Through My Eyes |edition=1st |location=New York |publisher=Scholastic Press |isbn=0590189239 |oclc=40588556 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/throughmyeyes00brid_0}} 
* {{Cite book |last=Bridges |first=Ruby |year=2009 |title=Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story |location=New York |publisher=Scholastic Press |isbn=9780545108553|oclc=230915434}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bridges |first=Ruby |year=2020 |title=This Is Your Time |location=New York |publisher=Delacorte Press |isbn=9780593378526 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Bridges |first=Ruby |year=2022 |title=I Am Ruby Bridges: How One Six-Year-Old Girl's March to School Changed the World |others=Illustrator: Nikkolas Smith |location=New York |publisher=Orchard Books |isbn=9781338753882 |oclc=1268545501}}

==See also==
{{Portalbar|Louisiana|Biography|Schools}}
* [[New Orleans school desegregation crisis]]
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box|by=yes}}
* Bridges Hall, Ruby (1999). ''Through My Eyes''. Scholastic Press. {{ISBN|0590189239}}.
* Coles, Robert (1995). ''The Story of Ruby Bridges''. Scholastic Press. {{ISBN|0590572814}}.
* Devlin, Rachel (2018). ''A Girl Stands at the Door: The Generation of Young Women Who Desegregated America's Schools''. Basic Books. {{ISBN|9781541697331}}.
* Steinbeck, John (1962). ''Travels with Charley in Search of America''. Viking Adult. {{ISBN|0670725080}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120511191615/http://www.rubybridges.com/ The Ruby Bridges Foundation]
* [http://www.nrm.org/thinglink/text/ProblemLiveWith.html ''The Problem We All Live With'']
* "[https://www.songfacts.com/facts/lori-mckenna/rubys-shoes Ruby's Shoes]" at Songfacts.com
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140108051301/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09faLq3wT8c Ruby Bridges]'' (1998 TV movie)

{{Civil rights movement}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, Ruby}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women]]
[[Category:20th-century American women]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women]]
[[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]]
[[Category:Activists from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Activists from New Orleans]]
[[Category:African-American activists]]
[[Category:African-American women memoirists]]
[[Category:African-American women writers]]
[[Category:American anti-racism activists]]
[[Category:American child activists]]
[[Category:American women civil rights activists]]
[[Category:Carter G. Woodson Book Award winners]]
[[Category:History of New Orleans]]
[[Category:People from Tylertown, Mississippi]]
[[Category:Presidential Citizens Medal recipients]]
[[Category:School desegregation pioneers]]