Left, elementary school teacher Barbara Henry with her former student, Ruby Bridges. At right, Ruby Bridges attending William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1960.

There are many courageous Chalkboard Champions in American history who have worked diligently to improve social conditions for all their students. One of these was Barbara Henry, an elementary teacher from New Orleans who sought to help integrate Louisiana schools during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. She was the teacher of Ruby Bridges, who was the first African American student to attend an all-white school in her city.

Barbara as born January 1, 1932. As a young girl, she attended Girls’ Latin School in Boston. There, she says, she “learned to appreciate and enjoy our important commonalities, amid our external differences of class, community, or color.”

Barbara inaugurated her career as a teacher overseas in schools for military dependents. Those schools were integrated. When she returned to the United States, the adventurous educator and her husband settled in New Orleans. She accepted a position at William Frantz Elementary School.

In 1960, little Ruby Bridges enrolled in the school. Barbara volunteered to teach Ruby, but the decision prompted white parents to remove their children from the class. For more than a year Barbara taught Ruby as her only student in the classroom.

At first, Ruby was nervous about meeting her new teacher, especially when confronted with loud protests going on outside the school. “I had never seen a white teacher before,” Ruby remembered, “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,” she said.

The intrepid and courageous Barbara Henry: A true Chalkboard Champion. To read Barbara’s story in her own words, see this essay written by her published by Scholastic: In Her Own Words.