Students walk to school today to honor Ruby Bridges

Thousands of students across California walked to school Tuesday to commemorate civil rights hero Ruby Bridges.

Bridges was 6 years old in 1960 when she integrated William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. U.S. marshals had to escort Ruby and her mother to school through an angry crowd of people who didn’t want their children attending school with a Black child.

Former Deputy Marshal Charles Burks later recalled that Ruby “showed a lot of courage, she never cried, she didn’t whimper, she just marched along like a little soldier,” according to a California Senate resolution.

In 2018, fifth grade students in the South San Francisco Unified School District asked legislators to make Nov. 14 Ruby Bridges Day. The California State Senate agreed and proclaimed the day Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day.