Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day 

Why Ruby

Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day provides a perfect opportunity to teach children about the civil rights movement and make connections to today’s collective efforts for change. It also gives children the chance to celebrate Ruby’s courage by walking to school.

About Ruby

In 1954 the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. the Board of Education ended racial segregation in public schools. However, southern states continued to resist. Ruby spent kindergarten in a segregated classroom. In 1960, a federal court ordered Louisiana schools to desegregate. The school district created an entrance exam to see if African American students could attend an all-white school. Ruby and five other students passed the exam. The six students were to be sent to two different all-white schools. The school district delayed their start, and Ruby’s first day of school was November 14, 1960. A few days before, the two African American students who were going to attend with Ruby decided to stay in their home school. Ruby braved Frantz Elementary School on her own.

How Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day Began

In May 2018, a group of fifth-graders from Martin Elementary School in South San Francisco, California, learned about Ruby and asked their school board to pass a resolution making November 14 Ruby Bridges Day. The San Mateo County Office of Education Safe Routes to School team met with students about making it a walk to school day and invited them to present this proposal to the San Mateo County Board of Education.

A resolution was passed endorsing November 14 as Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day in San Mateo County. When November 14 falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the event is celebrated on the following Wednesday. The Safe Routes to School team invited other schools to join the Martin Elementary School students in honoring Ruby’s courage by celebrating this walk to school day. Fourteen schools participated in 2018 and 25 participated in 2019.

Text from: Oregon Department of Transportation Safe Routes to School. (2023) Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. https://www.oregonsaferoutes.org/rbwtsd/