Barbara Henry
Barbara Henry | |
|---|---|
| File:Barbara Henry.jpg Barbara Henry with Ruby Bridges | |
| Born | January 1, 1932 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Teacher |
Barbara Henry (born January 1, 1932)[1] was a teacher at Frantz Elementary School, New Orleans. Franz was one of the first elementary schools in the American South to be desegregated. The first African-American student there was six-year old Ruby Bridges. Henry was the only teacher willing to teach Bridges.
Henry had gone to Girls Latin School in Boston, where “we learned… to appreciate and enjoy our important commonalities, amid our external differences of class, community, or color.” She had taught in overseas military dependents' schools, which were integrated.[2] Henry and her husband had been in New Orleans for two months when the superintendent called to offer her a teaching position. When Henry asked if the job was in a school that would be integrated, the superintendent replied, “Would that make any difference to you?” She said no.[3]
In New Orleans, in 1960, the young teacher Henry frequently passed through a mob of protesters shouting racist insults and threats like "2 4 6 8, we will never integrate". That was the reality in 1960 for both Ruby and Barbara. Ruby was six years old, and the first black student to help integrate the William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. Barbara, her white teacher, was a newcomer to the city and its schools."[4]
On the first day of the school year in 1960, Henry's and Bridges' relentless refusal to be intimidated caused them to become renowned figures in the American civil rights struggle. As soon as Bridges got into the school, white parents went in and brought their own children out; all but one of the white teachers also refused to teach while a black child was enrolled. Only Barbara Henry was willing to teach Bridges, and for over a year Mrs. Henry taught her alone, "as if she were teaching a whole class." That first day, Ruby and her adult companions spent the entire day in the principal's office; the chaos of the school prevented their moving to the classroom until the second day. When Ruby Bridges initially met her instructor she must have felt apprehensive. "I had never seen a white teacher before," she said, "but Mrs. Henry was the nicest teacher I ever had. She tried very hard to keep my mind off what was going on outside. But I couldn't forget that there were no other kids."[5]
The court-ordered first day of integrated schools in New Orleans, November 14, 1960, was commemorated by Norman Rockwell in the painting The Problem We All Live With.[6]
References
- ^ Henry, Barbara; Helman, Scott (June 27, 2014). "Teaching Ruby Bridges". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
- ^ "Barbara Henry Addresses the School http://www.roxburylatin.org/news/detail.aspx?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=4845&ModuleID=72".
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Cite journal requires|journal=(help); External link in|title= - ^ MacDonald, Bridget (January 20, 2010). "West Roxbury's Barbara Henry taught Ruby Bridges during Civil Rights era". Roslindale Transcript. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Renwick, Lucille (1990). "The Courage to Learn". Instructor Magazine. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ McCluskey, Eileen (2002). "Ruby Bridges evokes tears, smiles as she tells her tale". Harvard University Gazette (April 25, 2002). Retrieved August 27, 2011.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Hunter-Gault, Charlayne (February 18, 1997). "A Class of One: A Conversation with Ruby Bridges Hall". Online PBS NewsHour.
Further reading
- Bridges Hall, Ruby. Through My Eyes, Scholastic Press, 1999. (ISBN 0590189239)
- Coles, Robert. The Story of Ruby Bridges, Scholastic Press, 1995. (ISBN 0590572814)
- Steinbeck, John. Travels with Charley in Search of America, Viking Adult, 1962. (ISBN 0670725080)
- The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education, John Wiley & Sons, 2004. (ISBN 0471649260)
- "The Courage to Learn. (Ruby Bridges and teacher Barbara Henry) (Interview)", Instructor (1990), August 1, 2001, Renwick, Lucille