Six years after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, New Orleans’ first public schools integrated. In November, four young African American girls, including six-year-old Ruby Bridges, entered previously all-white schools. Though just four little girls, the outrage was clear, as white parents and protesters berated the children with racially charged insults and shouts. Ruby Bridges enrolled in William Frantz Elementary, and the other three girls went to McDonogh 19. Because of the massive presence of angry mobs, the girls required the protection of armed US Marshalls as they walked to and from school each day.
Image Courtesy of The Morning Advocate, Nov. 16, 1960. p. 16