Ruby Nell Bridges Hall

 Ruby Nell Bridges Hall

By: Jack Arnold

Ruby Nell Bridges Hall has been a brave and bold human being ever since she was a six year old and was the first African American to attend an all white school,  William Frantz Elementary School.  People like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. left their mark on this planet.  Ruby Bridges did the same thing, but this is a story of an unsung hero.

Ruby Bridges is one of the bravest people you will ever meet.  She felt as if segregation wasn’t right, so she decided to leave a mark in history by taking a test to join William Frantz Elementary School, an all white school.  She ended up passing the test and joining the school.  While Ruby was focused on her education, the other students were worried about her.  According to Womenshistory.org,”Ruby and her mother were escorted by four federal marshals to the school every day that year.  She walked past crowds screaming vicious slurs at her.  Undeterred, she later said she only became frightened when she saw a woman holding a black baby doll in a coffin.  She spent her first day in the principal’s office due to the chaos created as angry white parents pulled their children from school.” This is clearly very racist and uncalled for and thank you to the unsung heroes, things like that don’t happen as often.

Ruby was determined to make lives better for all of the black people she knew were struggling.  She ignored all the haters and the white people screaming horrific things at her.  She knew she was doing the right thing for everyone struggling with segregation.  According to scholastic,”She showed remarkable courage and maturity as she braved threatening crowds of white people to enter the school escorted by federal marshals.”  Because she was a young child when she helped integrate the schools in New Orleans, her story of courage is especially meaningful to children.  Ruby certainly did her job during the Civil Rights Movement as a brave little six year old.

The thing that we don’t think about when it comes to Ruby walking into William Frantz Elementary School, is she could have been killed by any of the crazy parents furious at her.  She stood her ground anyway and had the guts to have as good of an education as all of the white kids.  She was determined to create change and stop the discrimination.  Ruby has had such an amazing 66 years of her life and has succeeded her whole life.  She is now getting to meet up with Barack Obama and many other famous African Americans.  Shout out to Ruby Nell Bridges Hall for everything she has put herself through for us.

Ruby Bridges, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are just some of the African Americans that have helped stop segregation the way they have.  She is one of the most brave people you will ever meet and she is an unsung hero.  

 

  Citations

Womenhistory.org

scholastic