Someone brought a coffin to Ruby Bridges’ elementary school.
Inside it was a Black doll.
Ruby was six years old.
On November 14, 1960, she arrived at William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans to become its first Black student. Four federal marshals surrounded the tiny first grader as she walked toward a building that adults were determined to keep white.
Outside, segregationists screamed racial slurs and threats. White parents rushed inside to remove their children. Ruby later remembered thinking the enormous crowd looked like Mardi Gras.
Then she saw the coffin.
A woman repeatedly appeared with a Black doll displayed inside it, a grotesque death threat aimed at a child who had come to school to learn to read and write. Ruby later said the image frightened her more than the screaming and gave her nightmares. Another protester threatened to poison her, so federal marshals would only allow Ruby to eat food brought from home.
The punishment extended to her family. Her father lost his job. A grocery store refused to serve them.
Inside the school, nearly all the white children had been pulled out. Ruby spent first grade essentially as a class of one.
Inside the school, nearly all the white children had been pulled out. Ruby spent first grade essentially as a class of one.
Barbara Henry, a white teacher from Boston, taught her alone because other teachers refused. Ruby was kept away from the cafeteria and playground and required protection simply to use the restroom.
And yet, neither Ruby nor Barbara Henry missed a single day that school year.
That may be the detail worth remembering.
Hundreds of adults tried to frighten a six-year-old out of an elementary school.
They failed.
...TAKE THESE BROKEN WINGS, AND LEARN TO FLY...
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