Ruby Bridges and the Desegregation of American Schools
FREEDOM’S PROMISE RUBY BRIDGES AND THE DESEGREGATION OF AMERICAN SCHOOLS BY DUCHESS HARRIS JD PHD WITH TOM HEAD Cover image US federal marshals escort Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Elementary School in 1960 An Imprint of Abdo Publishing abdobooks com Core Library
A LETTER FROM DUCHESS Artist Norman Rockwell was famous for his paintings of American life He showed the lives of American families and American values Sometimes he also showed America’s serious problems Rockwell did this in a painting called The Problem We All Live With His painting shows a young black girl walking to school She wears a white dress and carries her schoolbooks In front of her are two US marshals in suits The scene is from a child’s point of view so the men’s heads are blocked by the top of the frame Behind the girl on a wall are a thrown tomato and a racial insult Who is the little girl Her name is Ruby Bridges She played an important role in desegregating American schools in the 1960s Bridges faced severe hardships as she struggled to get an education Her legacy remains strong today as an example of strength in the face of injustice Please join me on this journey to learn about Bridges’s life and legacy an important story of the promise of freedom
Ruby Bridges left speaks with President Barack Obama in front of Norman Rockwell’s painting The Problem We All Live With