On November 14, 1960, a six-year-old girl named Ruby Bridges traveled the five blocks from her house in New Orleans to William Frantz Elementary to attend first grade. A child walking into a school building may seem like a common occurrence, but Ruby’s walk through those doors on that fall morning was a landmark event in the history of our country.
In May of 1954, four months before Ruby Bridges was born, the US Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case declaring segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional, and instructing segregated schools to integrate within six years.
Despite this instruction, by the time Ruby started school the Orleans Parish School Board had yet to integrate and had established an entrance exam which was required for any black student wishing to attend an all-white school. 
Ruby began her education in a segregated kindergarten, and after that first year of schooling she passed the entrance exam and became the first black student to enroll at William Frantz Elementary.
While walking into school that first day, Ruby faced an angry crowd of people who didn’t want her at the school. Nevertheless, she persisted and continued to show up in the face of hatred and bigotry, leading by example in the fight for civil rights.
In 2018, a 5th grade class in California heard the story of Ruby’s bravery and pushed for a celebration in honor of her on November 14.
That small movement has grown, and now Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day brings people across the country together in celebration of the pursuit of justice. In 2026, because November 14 falls on a Saturday, the official Day will be the following Wednesday, November 18.
You can join the Library in celebrating by visiting our Walk and Read at Strang Park to enjoy "Ruby, Head High" by Irène Cohen-Janca during the month of November.
On November 14, 1960, at just six years old, escorted by U.S. marshals through angry, hostile crowds of protesters shouting racist threats, Ruby Bridges walked into William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, LA to become the first African American child to integrate an all-white elementary school in the American South. Her brave walk to school became a powerful, defining symbol of the Civil Rights Movement and educational equality. We celebrate her efforts on November 14 each year, when students practice solidarity by walking to their own schools.
