Ruby Bridges

Despite her father's misgivings, Ruby Bridges became the first black child to desegregate William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1961. As Bridges was escorted to school by U.S. marshals, one woman would frequently threaten to poison her, and another held up a black baby doll in a coffin. In 1999, Bridges formed the Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote "the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences." In 2014, a statue of Bridges was unveiled in the courtyard of William Frantz Elementary School.