Ruby Bridges was an 8 year old African American girl who attended William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the first African American student to attend an all white elementary school in the South. She faced a lot of hardships by attending this school, but she changed the world because of it.
Down South in New Orleans, there lived a little girl and her family. This little girl's name was Ruby Bridges, and she had no idea that she was going to change the world.
Ruby was born on September 8, 1954 in Tylertown, Mississippi. When she was 4 years old, her mom and dad packed up all of their stuff and moved with Ruby to New Orleans, Louisiana. Eventually, Ruby got to have two younger brothers and a younger sister. But Ruby was the oldest sibling, and she had a lot of responsibility, especially because her parents worked a lot to help support their family.
Ruby was very smart. In fact, she was one of the smartest kids in her Kindergarten class. She impressed her teachers so much that they wanted her to take a special test. This test would give Ruby the opportunity to attend a school that was segregated.
You see at this time, many schools in the country were segregated. This means that children who had different skin colors attended 2 separate schools. Ruby was African American and she attended a school with other African American students, but if she did well on this test, she would be sent to a school that only had white students at it.
Ruby's dad was scared. He didn't want her to take the test. He said that she was safe at her own school, and they did not need to risk their safety so that she could get a better education. Ruby's mom disagreed. She said that if Ruby attended the whites-only school, that she would get a much better education. And the whites-only school was a lot closer to their house!
Ruby decided to take the test, and she passed! She would be the first ever black student to attend an all-white elementary school in the South, but she was scared. She wondered what the other kids would think of her, and she wondered if her teachers would like her or if her schoolwork would be hard.
As Ruby was getting dressed for her first day of school at her new school, the telephone rang. Some people at the whites-only school were not happy that Ruby was going to attend school with their children. They were so mad, that they were trying to get laws passed that stopped Ruby from being able to attend school with their children. Because of this, Ruby went back to her old school for almost 3 months as she waited to find out if she would ever get to attend the whites-only school.
Finally, on the morning of November 14, 1960, Ruby's family got another phone call, but this one was different. This one said that Ruby would finally get to go to school at the one she had worked so hard to get into.
People were still angry about Ruby getting to go to the whites-only school. The government sent 4 federal marshals to help protect Ruby and her family on the way to school and to help Ruby when she was in her classes.
Once Ruby got to class, life was still hard. Many parents refused to let their children go to class with Ruby and many teachers refused to teach her; however, one teacher welcomed Ruby with open arms and agreed to teach her.
This special teacher's name was Barbara Henry. For Ruby's entire first grade year, she and Mrs. Henry worked one on one, side by side in the classroom. There were no other students in Ruby's class because the parents refused to send their children into the same classroom as Ruby. Ruby ate lunch alone, and did not get to do PE, music, art or recess with any other students. Mrs. Henry said that Ruby was a great students who held her head high and didn't back down.
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Ruby Bridges was an 8 year old African American girl who attended William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the first African American student to attend an all white elementary school in the South. She faced a lot of hardships by attending this school, but she changed the world because of it.
Down South in New Orleans, there lived a little girl and her family. This little girl's name was Ruby Bridges, and she had no idea that she was going to change the world.
Ruby was born on September 8, 1954 in Tylertown, Mississippi. When she was 4 years old, her mom and dad packed up all of their stuff and moved with Ruby to New Orleans, Louisiana. Eventually, Ruby got to have two younger brothers and a younger sister. But Ruby was the oldest sibling, and she had a lot of responsibility, especially because her parents worked a lot to help support their family.
Ruby was very smart. In fact, she was one of the smartest kids in her Kindergarten class. She impressed her teachers so much that they wanted her to take a special test. This test would give Ruby the opportunity to attend a school that was segregated.
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