Ruby Bridges 4 Anne Frank 6 Om Prakash Gurjar 8 Joan of Arc 10 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 12 Blaise Pascal 14 Hector Pieterson 16 Sacagawea 18 Samantha Smith 20 Tutankhamun 22 Ryan White 24 Malala Yousafzai 26 How You Can Make Change 28 Glossary 30 For More Information 31 Index 32 About the Author 32 TABLE OF CONTENTS
On November 14 1960 Ruby Bridges made history She was the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school Ruby was born in 1954 That year the Supreme Court ruled schools should be desegregated Black students could attend the same schools as white students Before 1954 black students in Southern states often had to attend separate schools All-black schools were often overcrowded They did not get the same materials as students in white schools By 1960 Ruby was ready to enter first grade in New Orleans Louisiana Ruby was going to make history She was going to be the first black student at William Frantz Elementary School RUBY BRIDGES CHALLENGES RACISM Ruby was the first black student to attend an all-white school in New Orleans Louisiana 1 4
On her first day Ruby had protection from federal police officers She needed it As she walked to school six-year-old Ruby was met with hatred Crowds of people shouted racial slurs at her Some even threatened her life Ruby made it into the school But she was the only student in her class Many white parents were angry They did not want their children to be in class with a black student They took their children out of school Ruby spent the day with her teacher Barbara Henry For the entire year Ruby was Henry’s only student By the end of the summer though white parents had become less angry They allowed their children to go back to school In second grade Ruby finally had other classmates As an adult Ruby shares her story She talks about her experiences with racism She wrote a book about her first day of school It is called Through My Eyes She started the Ruby Bridges Foundation It educates people about racial tolerance MS HENRY Barbara Henry was Ruby’s first grade teacher She grew up in Boston Massachusetts But she taught in Louisiana She was the only teacher who agreed to teach a black child at Ruby’s school Henry was kind to Ruby She made her feel comfortable But Henry moved back to Boston after that year Ruby’s school did not invite her back to teach the next school year 4 Number of federal police officers who walked Ruby to school Ruby was the first black student to attend an all-white school in the South People called her nasty names and threatened her She now educates people about racism 5
