Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges, one of the first black students to integrate an all-white elementary school in 1960, will speak at Berry College on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Her lecture will be at 10:00am on January 20 at the Berry College Chapel. Seating is limited and doors open to the public at 9:30am, according to a statement from the school.
The date coincides with the 60th anniversary of Berry College’s integration underneath college president John Bertrand.
Bridges was born in 1954, the year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation to be unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education. On November 14, 1960, she began attending William Frantz Elementary school in New Orleans, single-handedly initiating the desegregation of public education.
Various art pieces and media have immortalized her story, including Norman Rockwell’s painting “The Problem We All Live With” and the Disney movie “Ruby Bridges.” Bridges also authored “Dear Ruby, Hear Our Hearts,” released in January 2024.
Bridges currently works as a civil rights activist, author and speaker. She established the Ruby Bridges Foundation to provide leadership and training programs to inspire community leaders to embrace diversity.
She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in March 2024. Bridges also has received numerous awards, including the NAACP Martin Luther King Award, the Presidential Citizens Medal, and honorary doctorate degrees from several colleges and universities.
This event is part of the Conson Wilson Lecture Series and is sponsored by the GHD Foundation, Berry’s corporate diversity partner.
