Barbara Henry
Encyclopedia
Barbara Henry is an American teacher who refused to leave her teaching job when parents, students, and teachers decided to leave their elementary school to protest the desegregation
of schools in New Orleans in 1960. Henry was the first teacher in the Frantz Elementary School who was willing to teach an African-American student, Ruby Bridges
.
Mrs. Henry was accustomed to a diverse world experience from her travel and teaching experiences in Europe, not to mention her own education at Girls’ Latin School in Boston, a microcosm of the City of Boston where “we learned… to appreciate and enjoy our important commonalities, amid our external differences of class, community, or color.” Prior to moving to New Orleans she had taught in an overseas military dependents schools which was integrated.
Henry had been living in New Orleans with her husband for just two months when a call came from the superintendent offering 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.
In New Orleans, in 1960, the young teacher Henry frequently passed through a mob of protesters shouting racist insults and threats. "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."
On the first day of the school year in 1960, Henry and Bridges relentless refusal to be intimidated caused them to become renowned figures in the civil rights struggle in the United States. 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, from Boston
, Massachusetts
, 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, Bridges 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."
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
.
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
of schools in New Orleans in 1960. Henry was the first teacher in the Frantz Elementary School who was willing to teach an African-American student, Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Nell Bridges Hall moved with her parents to New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 4. In 1960, when she was 6 years old, her parents responded to a call from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans...
.
Mrs. Henry was accustomed to a diverse world experience from her travel and teaching experiences in Europe, not to mention her own education at Girls’ Latin School in Boston, a microcosm of the City of Boston where “we learned… to appreciate and enjoy our important commonalities, amid our external differences of class, community, or color.” Prior to moving to New Orleans she had taught in an overseas military dependents schools which was integrated.
Henry had been living in New Orleans with her husband for just two months when a call came from the superintendent offering 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.
In New Orleans, in 1960, the young teacher Henry frequently passed through a mob of protesters shouting racist insults and threats. "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."
On the first day of the school year in 1960, Henry and Bridges relentless refusal to be intimidated caused them to become renowned figures in the civil rights struggle in the United States. 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, from Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, 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, Bridges 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."
The court-ordered first day of integrated schools in New Orleans, November 14, 1960, was commemorated by Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
in the painting The Problem We All Live With
The Problem We All Live With
The Problem We All Live With is a 1964 painting by Norman Rockwell. An iconic image of the civil rights movement in the United States, it depicts Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old African-American girl, on her way in to an all-white public school in New Orleans on November 14, 1960 during the process of...
.
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