WOOD Radio Local News

WOOD Radio Local News

WOOD Radio Local News

 

U.S. Attorney Presents A.G. tribute to civil rights icon Ruby Bridges

LANSING, Mich. -- Mark Totten, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, has presented Ruby Bridges with a letter of tribute from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. It recognizes her contribution to the advancement of civil rights.

The presentation took place Monday at the 39th Annual Day of Celebration at the Lansing Center, hosted by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Mid-Michigan. In 1960, the then 6-year-old Ruby Bridges entered William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, under a court order requiring the school system to admit children of color.

"One of the blessings of my job is the work that we do to protect civil rights," Totten told the audience. "When 6-year-old Ruby took those courageous steps into William Frantz Elementary School, she was escorted by deputies from the U.S. Marshals Service - also a part of the U.S. Department of Justice. Hands down, it was one of our proudest moments."

Although the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down school segregation in its 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, many schools across the United States remained segregated. When Ruby first entered the school, and for months thereafter, she was met by screaming crowds and racial slurs. That first day and for the rest of the school year, Ruby was accompanied by several Deputy U.S. Marshals from the U.S. Marshal’s Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. Only one teacher was willing to accept Ruby, her father lost his job, grocery stores refused to sell food to her family, and her grandparents were evicted from their farm. More information about Ruby Bridges is available on this National Park Service webpage.

An image of the letter of tribute from Attorney General Merrick Garland, presented by U.S. Attorney Mark Totten, honoring Ruby Bridges.Photo: Source: U.S. Attorney's Office - Western District of Michigan

Ruby Bridges being escorted down the steps at a previously all-whites elementary school in 1960.Photo: [Uncredited DOJ photographer. William Frantz Elementary School, 1960.]


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