Ruby Bridges

Ruby Bridges, at the age of six, became the first African American child to integrate a white Southern elementary school, becoming a symbol of the civil rights movement.

Civil Rights Figure

September 8, 1954

Virgo

70

Tylertown, Mississippi, United States

Ruby Bridges is a renowned American civil rights activist who, at the age of six, became the first African-American child to attend an all-white elementary school in the 1960s. As a symbol of the civil rights movement, her courageous actions on November 14, 1960, helped pave the way for further civil rights action in the American South. Apart from her historic achievement, Bridges has authored a children’s picture book called “I am Ruby Bridges” and remains a staunch advocate for racial equality and social justice. In 1993, she established The Ruby Bridges Foundation, which fosters tolerance, respect, and appreciation for diversity among people.