On this day in 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first Black student to integrate into an all-white public elementary school in New Orleans. Her bravery marked a turning point in the fight to desegregate schools in the South. Ruby faced daily harassment and isolation, yet she showed extraordinary courage and resilience, becoming a symbol of the civil rights movement and the power of youth-led change. | The Legal Defense Fund

At six years old, Ruby Bridges walked through angry protestors to attend William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana, becoming the first Black American to attend a previously all-white school. Forty-five years after she crossed that historic threshold, Bridges would fight to save the same school from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. | HISTORY