“The difference between Ruby Bridges and other civil rights icons is that she entered the history books when she entered the first grade,” said Michael Roediger, executive director of the “DAI” Dayton Art Institute, in his introduction.
The 57-year-old Ruby Bridges spoke softly in front of a sold-out lecture hall at the DAI on Jan 19. Bridges was brought to Dayton by the DAI, the Sinclair Visiting Scholars program and the DP&L Foundation.
Bridge’s talk was planned to accompany the ongoing Norman Rockwell exhibit at the DAI, which includes his famous painting of Bridge’s history-making walk into the elementary school, The problem we all live with. The collection also includes 42 of Rockwell’s paintings and the full collection of Rockwell’s 323 Saturday Evening Post covers.
Bridges began her talk with a video of the chanting mobs that gathered outside William Frantz Elementary School the day she became the first black student to attend an integrated school in New Orleans.
Bridges described the efforts to integrate New Orleans’ schools, which was spearheaded by the NAACP. Bridges said her parents were not activists, but when they were told that going to the newer integrated school would give their child a better education, “that’s all they needed to hear.”
Although 137 families agreed to work with the NAACP to integrate the schools, ultimately only three students were assigned to one school, and the other three to Frantz. Before the first day, the two students who would have accompanied Bridges dropped out, leaving her alone.
Bridges had already completed kindergarten and part of the first-grade, and said she loved her all-black school.
“I had absolutely no idea what was going on,” said Bridges. “Mind you, I knew nothing, my parents never said anything to me.”
In the absence of information, Bridges remembers using her imagination to explain the switch of schools and the crowds. She said she thought she had been sent straight to college for performing so well, and that she was in a parade.
In reality, Bridges was passing through a crowd of angry anti-integration protesters and needed a unit of federal marshals for her protection.
Bridges spent most of her first year at the school alone, taught by a single teacher, Barbara Henry from Boston. “She was the nicest teacher I’ve ever had, she was like another mom to me,” Bridges said.
The school itself was much newer and nicer than the one she left behind. As she studied, she could hear the shouting crowds outside.
Only a handful of parents continued to send their children to school while Bridges was there, and they also endured abuse from the community. It was not until one of her few white classmates told her “my mom said not to play with you,” that the 6-year-old Bridges realized that all the commotion was about her.
Bridges attended the same school until the sixth-grade. She said that the next year, it was as if “it never happened.” The class of 25 students returned to school, including a handful of other black children.
“When you think about times back then, it was truly different,” said Bridges. “We definitely have made progress.”
Although she is optimistic about the country’s progress, Bridges also spoke about some more negative trends today.
“My neighbors walked me to school everyday,” she said. “That’s what’s missing in so many communities today, we don’t care about each other’s children any more, and we need to care.”
She spoke about the loss of her oldest son, who was “murdered by someone who looks exactly like him,” and said “we must come together for our children — if you are about what is good, then I want you on my team.”
“What we need to be concerned about today is good and evil, and those come in all different shades and colors,” said Bridges.
Although the Bridges talk was a one-time event, the Norman Rockwell exhibit will be at the DAI with special expanded hours until Feb 5.
Rockwell’s famous painting, The problem we all live with, came to Dayton directly from the walls of the White House. Bridges said she first saw the painting when she was 17, “I remember thinking that this was an event that was really important. I think that it helped me know now what my purpose was in life.”