1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,120 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:09,400 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: show that explores the highs and lows of everyday history. 4 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:18,119 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, we're looking back 5 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: at the fateful day when a young black girl braved 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: a mob of virulent white protesters just to get to school. 7 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: The day was November fourteenth, nineteen sixty six year old 8 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: Ruby Bridges became the first black student to attend a 9 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: previously all white school in New Orleans. Her arrival was 10 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:50,279 Speaker 1: met with extreme hostility by the city's resident racists. They 11 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: gathered in droves outside the school and proceeded to harass, insult, 12 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: and threaten the young girl as she made her way 13 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: into the building. Thankfully, Ruby was and alone. She was 14 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: escorted by her mother and by four federal marshals who'd 15 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 1: been stationed there for her protection. Her courage that day 16 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: was preserved in photographs and later inspired a famous painting 17 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,959 Speaker 1: by Norman Rockwell entitled The Problem We All Live With. 18 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: Ruby didn't know it at the time, but she had 19 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: just become the youngest face of the American civil rights movement, 20 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: as well as the latest target of rabid segregationists. Ruby 21 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: Nell Bridges was born on September eighth, nineteen fifty four, 22 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: in Tylertown, Mississippi. She was the oldest of five children 23 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: born to Lucille and a Bond Bridges. Her father was 24 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: a Korean War veteran who made his living as a sharecropper, 25 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,119 Speaker 1: but when Ruby was two years old, he moved their 26 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: family to New Orleans, Louisiana, in search of a better job. 27 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: The year of Ruby's birth coincided with a major shift 28 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: in federal law and American society. The Supreme Court's landmark 29 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: ruling in Brown versus the Border of Education made racial 30 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: segregation illegal in public schools. The decision caused an uproar 31 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: in the Southern States, and many communities and schools continued 32 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: to resist integration for years to come. The city of 33 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 1: New Orleans was one of those places. The local school 34 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: board defied the Supreme Court's ruling and a federal court 35 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: order for a full four years. Then, in May of 36 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,919 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty, Judge J. Skelly Wright issued another federal order. 37 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: It was a fairly lenient one, allowing for the gradual 38 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: desegregation of New Orleans public schools beginning with the first grade. Nonetheless, 39 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: the school board pushed back, ultimately convincing Judge Right to 40 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: require an entrance exam for African American students. Under that 41 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: restrictive plan, any black student in New Orleans who wanted 42 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: to transfer to a formerly all white school would have 43 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: to pass a test proving their academic ability. In the end, 44 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: only six of the one hundred and thirty seven first 45 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: graders who applied that year were accepted, and Ruby Bridges 46 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: was one of them. Her parents were split on whether 47 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: to allow her to attend the all white elementary school 48 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,119 Speaker 1: just a few blocks from their home. Her father objected strongly, 49 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: fearing that Ruby's enrollment might lead to mob violence, just 50 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 1: as it had in Little Rock, Arkansas, three years earlier. 51 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: Ruby's mother, however, was adamant that she'd be given the 52 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: chance for education that her parents had been denied a bond. 53 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: Bridges eventually agreed to the enrollment, but the family made 54 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: sure federal marshals would be on hand in case there 55 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: was trouble. Meanwhile, the school district continued to stall the 56 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: black children's admittance, and by the time they finally set 57 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: a date in mid November, two of the six applicants 58 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: had decided not to attend after all. That left Ruby 59 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: as the only black student assigned to William France Elementary. 60 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: The other remaining three were sent to a different school 61 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: on the same day. When Ruby arrived on the morning 62 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: of November fourteenth, she was met by dozens of angry protesters, 63 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: many of whom had been organized by the local White 64 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: Citizens Council. They accosted Ruby and her mother with racial slurs, insults, 65 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: and death threats. Some carried signs emblazoned with hateful slogans 66 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: like all I want for Christmas is a clean white school. 67 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: One white woman even held up a miniature coffin with 68 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: a black baby doll inside. Most of the crowd's malice 69 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: didn't register with Ruby. She hadn't been told that she 70 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: would be attending a formerly all white school or that 71 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: white people would be up in arms about it. To her, 72 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: all the screaming and chanting and waving of flags just 73 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: looked like people celebrating, like they did at Marty Gras. 74 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: But while Ruby couldn't read the signs or make out 75 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: the screaming, she understood the message behind the doll and 76 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: the coffin. The sight of it was seared into her mind, 77 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: and she later report to dreaming of it throughout the 78 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: school year. Although she made it inside safely that day, 79 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: Ruby didn't get to attend any classes. Instead, she sat 80 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: alone in the principal's office while angry white parents made 81 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 1: a scene outside, pulling their own children out of school 82 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: and vowing not to bring them back. A similar scene 83 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: played out at McDonough Elementary, where the other black first 84 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: graders had been sent. Within a week, nearly all of 85 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: the white children assigned to the newly integrated schools in 86 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: New Orleans had been withdrawn. On her second day, Ruby 87 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,159 Speaker 1: went to her assigned classroom and met her teacher, Barbara Henry, 88 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: a white woman from Boston who had been the only 89 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: one willing to teach her for the first several days. 90 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: They were the only ones in the entire school, as 91 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: the rest of the faculty and students had stayed home 92 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: in protest. Some white parents eventually crossed the picket line 93 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 1: and returned their kids to school, but even then they 94 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 1: were kept separate from Ruby. The principal would take them, 95 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: she later explained, and she would hide them so that 96 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: they would never see me, and I would never see them. 97 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: I spent the entire year in an empty classroom with 98 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: my teacher, missus Henry. I remember hearing voices, but I 99 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: never saw kids, and it kept me wondering where the 100 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: voices were coming from, if they were real at all. 101 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 1: Ruby attended school every day that year, escorted by her 102 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: mother and the Federal Marshals. They were confronted by a 103 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: racist mob on a daily basis for several months, but 104 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: gradually the crowd thinned away. It took most of the 105 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: school year, but missus Henry also managed to convince the 106 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 1: principal to allow Ruby to join her fellow students. The 107 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: girl was eager to make new friends and finally have 108 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: someone to play with at Recess besides her teacher. Sadly, though, 109 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: the first meeting didn't go as planned, as Ruby later recounted, quote, 110 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: a little boy said to me, I can't play with you. 111 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: My mom said not to play with you, and he 112 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: called me the N word, and that's when I had 113 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: my eye a ha moment. The reason why there were 114 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: no kids here was because of me and the color 115 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: of my skin. That's why I can't code to Recess. 116 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: And it's not Marty Krass. I didn't realize what was 117 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: going on around me until he told me, and that 118 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: was my first encounter with racism. He introduced it to me. 119 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: As an adult, Ruby realized that the boy wasn't expressing 120 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: his own prejudice, he was merely repeating what his parents 121 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: had told him. Or, in other words, as Ruby put it, quote, 122 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: racism is learned behavior. We pass it on to our kids, 123 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: and it continues from one generation to the next. The 124 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: Bridges family was hit hard by that cycle of hatred. 125 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: Ruby's father was fired from his job as a gas 126 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: station attendant, her mother was refused service at several local 127 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: grocery stores, and her grandparents were evicted from the Mississippi 128 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: farm where they had worked as sharecroppers for twenty five years. Luckily, 129 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: some northerners sent money and other gifts to help keep 130 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: the family afloat, and the Bridge's friends and neighbors offered 131 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: their support as well. They made it possible for Ruby 132 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: to continue attending France Elementary, and over time she was 133 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: joined by other black students. The rest of her education 134 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: proceeded without major incident, and she went on to graduate 135 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: from a desegregated high school. In her adult life, Ruby 136 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: worked as a travel agent for American Express for fifteen 137 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: years and got to travel the world as part of 138 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 1: the position. She later married and had four sons before 139 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: returning to work as an activist for racial equality. She 140 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,079 Speaker 1: embarked on several speaking tours in the mid nineteen nineties, 141 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: joined by her first grade teacher, missus Henry. Ruby also 142 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: authored a number of children's books about her early experiences 143 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: and established the Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance and 144 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: combat prejudice through education. The prejudice she was subjected to 145 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: as a child left an indelible mark on her life, 146 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: but rather than despairing over the past, Ruby has committed 147 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: herself to building a more hopeful future because, as her 148 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: foundation's motto says, racism is a grown up disease and 149 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: we must stop using our children to spredit. I'm Gabe 150 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: Lucier and hopefully you now know a little more about 151 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,200 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to 152 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,359 Speaker 1: keep up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 153 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show. And if you have 154 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, you can always send them my 155 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: way by writing to this day at iHeartMedia dot com. 156 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays, for producing the show, and thanks 157 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 158 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in history class.