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Overall Summary

Through My Eyes is a memoir by Ruby Bridges about her experience as one of the first young black students to attend an integrated school during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. The book includes quotes from authors who have written about her life, and it’s suitable for children aged nine to thirteen.

Ruby Bridges was the first black child to attend a public elementary school in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her education was not met with applause from white citizens of the city. Instead, riots and protests occurred because parents did not want their children attending her elementary school. Ruby’s story has been told many times before in fiction books, non-fiction books, and movies about her life as a civil rights activist during segregation.

Cecil was only 5 years old when she attended her first school. She had to be escorted by US Marshalls because the white citizens of New Orleans were protesting against a black girl attending their school. Cecil thought that this must have been college because it was so important and there were police around, too. During the protest, Ruby noticed that Mardi Gras also has protests during its celebrations and realized that they are similar in nature as both are loud and rebellious.

The book discusses the landmark Supreme Court Case Brown v. Board of Education, in which a federal court issued the desegregation of public schools in the United States. Louisiana was among the states whose congressmen signed a petition boycotting this ruling, claiming that it was unjust. Despite this, New Orleans had to integrate its school system and leave Bridges exposed to turbulent times with social change. In response, white parents pulled their children out of school and Bridges became alone at her school; every morning she walked with Federal Marshalls through crowds hurling racial slurs and threats; every afternoon those same marshals escorted her home from school while other students stayed away from class during integration efforts. While other students were absent from classes, Bridges learned math and reading skills under Barbara Henry’s tutelage—a brave teacher who came south to teach despite death threats against herself for doing so because she believed it was important to educate all children equally regardless of race or color.

In this book, a six-year-old girl recounts her experience of the civil rights movement. She didn’t know what was going on until another child told her that his mother had said he couldn’t play with her because she’s black. The girl was stunned to realize that there were protests happening and teachers were making changes in order to integrate classrooms because of the color of skin.

Ruby Bridges tells what it was like to be the first African American child to desegregate a school in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is now sixty-four years old and still lives in New Orleans with her four sons. She is the subject of a painting and an exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis about her childhood. Through My Eyes won the Carter G. Woodson Book Award.