On November 14, 1960, just 6 years old, Bridge was to begin first grade at William Frents Elementary School in New Orleans. As the first black student to attend school, Poole consolidates on his little shoulder.
His first day at William Frantz in New Orleans, Black’s parents played Brown v. The decision by the Board of Education came four years after a lawsuit was filed against the Orleans Pishish School Board for not degrading the school system, which in 1954 ruled that state law was unconstitutional to establish segregation in public schools.
Years went by at Bridge School, Judge. J. Scalley Wright ordered New Orleans public schools to dissect. The Orleans Parish School Board, the judge assured, that black students were required to apply for transfer to all-white schools, so that, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, dissection is limited.
That year, only five of the 137 black first-grade applicants for transfer were accepted, and according to EJI, only four agreed to participate. The bridge was between them.
“For me, 6 years old, I had no idea what was really going on,” Bridges, now 66, told NPR in 2010. I only mean that I was told by my parents that I was leaving. To go to a new school and I should behave. ”
Once Bridge entered the school and reached his classroom, all the other students returned. The rest of the school year, it was just her and the teacher, he said. And the crowd continued to show, at one point bringing the coffin of a small child with a black doll inside.
“I dreamed of Bucks,” said Bridges. “Those are the days I remember being really, really scared.”
But Poole stayed at the school despite taking revenge on his family. Grocery stores refused to sell to his mother Lucille. Her father, Eben, lost his job, according to the National Park Service. Toll was so strict in their marriage that they were separated by the time Bridges graduated from sixth grade, he told NPR.
Eventually, though, the bridges made it to second standard. And when he did, there were eight black students in the school’s next first-grade class, EJI said.
CNN Reached to comment on the bridge but got no response.
The bridge is an inspiration to many. In 2011, she was invited to the Oval Office Fees, where a painting by Norman Rockwell commemorating her walk – when it first appeared on the cover of a magazine in 1964 – was on display.
“I think it’s fair that I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for your people,” then-President Barack Obama told Bridge during his visit, according to White House archives.
Ruby says Lucille pushed him
School present, Died this week at the age of 86. In an Instagram post, Ruby called her mother a “champion for change,” adding that her actions changed many lives.
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