Ruby Bridges

In 1984, Bridges was married to Malcolm Hall, thus becoming Ruby Nell Bridges Hall. The couple, along with their four sons, lives in New Orleans.

Her bravery, when escorted by four US marshals on her first day at school, inspired painter Norman Rockwell to create the painting ‘The Problem We All Live With’, which became the cover page of Look magazine in January 1964.

Child psychiatrist Robert Coles, who counseled her during her first year at school for the ever-increasing riots and protests against her, penned a children’s book titled ‘The Story of Ruby Bridges’, in 1995, as an inspiration for other students.

Ruby Bridges was born as Ruby Nell Bridges on September 8, 1954 in Tylertown, Mississippi, to Abon and Lucille Bridges as the eldest of the four kids.

Since her family had been sharecroppers, they moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, in search of a better living, when she was four. This was the same time when blacks were largely discriminated from the whites.

To support the increasing expenses, her father sought employment as a service station attendant, while her mother started working in night shifts.

Even though she lived just five blocks away from an all-white school, she had to walk several miles ahead to attend an all-black school.

Of the six students who successfully passed the National Association from the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) test in 1960 to attend an all-white school, she was the only student who chose William Franz Elementary School.

She completed her graduation from Kansas City Business School in travel and tourism. After graduation, she took the job of a world travel agent in American Express.

In 1993, when her brother Milton was killed in a drug-related issue, she adopted his four daughters and enrolled them in William Franz Elementary School.

She started volunteering at William Franz for thrice a week and became a parent-community liaison. She gained instant popularity and got to reunite with her first teacher, Henry, through Coles’ book on her, on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

In 1999, Bridges established The Ruby Bridges Foundation to support and encourage parents to educate their children as a need to end racism and promote equal rights for one and all.