Sixty-four years ago, Ruby Bridges became the first Black child in the South to attend an all-white elementary school. On November 14, 1960, the six-year-old walked through an angry crowd into a school emptied of other students. White parents .
“Driving up I could see the crowd, but living in New Orleans, I actually thought it was Mardi Gras,” recalled as an adult. “There was a large crowd of people outside of the school. They were throwing things and shouting, and that sort of goes on in New Orleans at Mardi Gras.”
Former United States Deputy Marshal Charles Burks later recalled, “She showed a lot of courage. She never cried. She didn’t whimper. She just marched along like a little soldier, and we’re all very very proud of her.”[11]
