Before Ruby Bridges was allowed to go to William Frantz, she had to take a test that was designed so that blacks would fail and the schools would stay segregated. She was one in six other African Americans that passed. As soon as her family found out about the exciting news her mother, Lucille Bridges, wanted her to go right away. On the other hand her father, Abon Bridges, wanted her not to go because he was in worry of their families safety. Eventually both parents agreed to let her go knowing it would help other children like her in the future. Ruby Bridges now had to be prepared to walk into a Public School on November 14, 1960.
On Ruby Bridge’s first day of school the doorbell rang. It was military officers from the NAACP there to drive her and her mother to school and escort her into the school building.When she got into school she stayed in the office all day. Her teacher was a white woman named Barbara Henry who was the only teacher willing to teach a black child, she never missed one day of the whole year to teach Ruby. Barbara Henry loved Ruby just as much as any other child she taught. Every day Mrs. Henry would come in and teach her, she showed Ruby what love and caring was like.
On November 14, 1960 was the day that Ruby Bridges would have to be enclosed by four officers. As soon as she pulled up to William Frantz Public School with armed forces she was told to stay close and not look back behind her to see what was happening. When she got out of the vehicle she didn’t know what to expect. Out of the small space that she could see from the officers, she saw signs with rude remarks on them. She got nasty stares from the crowds but just ignored them. Ruby kept her head held high while the friendly officers did too.
Yelling and screaming is all she heard while she walked into school everyday. She walked through the hallways with a positive mind as people screamed at her while she was in the halls at school or even walking into school. Ruby prayed for the people that were saying selfish comments to her. As Ruby was praying she was forgiving them because she believed that they didn’t know what they were doing. The crowds outside did not bother her like most people would think. Although there were a few people that she couldn’t erase the memory of them. One lady was holding a coffin with an African American doll inside of it, another lady threatened to poison Ruby if she kept coming back to school. Ruby Bridges did not let these thoughts get into her head she focused on her goal and achieved it.
Ruby Bridges was the first African American to attend an all white public school. After she attended William Frantz Elementary School, she opened opportunities for many other children in the southern states. During Ruby’s challenging times she never showed anyone her fears, she didn’t want to back down and make it seem like she was afraid of what she is fighting for. Ruby accomplished a major success by being the first african american first grader to go to an all white school. Because of her accomplishment, they made a statue for 54 years of Ruby and the crowd at the school welcomed her back, in Ruby’s eyes the statue shows “kids can do anything”.