Claim:
A photo authentically shows segregationists in the 1960s carrying a coffin with a baby doll inside it to harass 6-year-old Ruby Bridges.
Rating:
Mixture ( About this rating? )
What's True:
In interviews as an adult, Bridges has recalled walking to school as a 6 year old and being harassed by a woman carrying a "black doll inside of the coffin." However...
What's False:
While the photo in question was captured in the same city and around the same time as Bridges' highly publicized walks to school, it shows segregationists outside Louisiana's capitol building for a protest that didn't specifically target Bridges but rather school integration in general.
What's Undetermined:
It's possible that the coffin and doll in the photo were the same items Bridges referenced in the NPR interview, but there isn't conclusive evidence to confirm that was the case.
In the 1960s, Ruby Bridges was among a few Black students in New Orleans who integrated what were then all-white schools. As a 6-year-old, she walked to school with U.S. Marshals guarding her . Segregationists had lined her route. Photographers documented the scene, with several of those images remaining popular online today.
However, at least one photo from the time has circulated with a slightly misleading caption. The photo — which one X account shared in June 2024 as part of a series it described as " some of the most haunting photos ever taken" — supposedly depicts segregationists harassing Bridges with a doll inside a coffin. That X post amassed more than 8.2 million views , which was far and away the most of any image in the thread.
From users on Facebook to Instagram to Reddit , people across social media have shared the photo over years , similarly alleging it shows segregationists harassing Bridges with a doll inside a coffin.
The claim had some truth to it. The photo was indeed taken in Louisiana in 1960, and it depicted people protesting against the integration of racially segregated schools.
However, the photo was taken at the Louisiana state capitol — not during one of Bridges' walks to William Frantz Elementary School. The two sites are about 83 miles away from each other. The crowd had gathered at the state government building to protest desegregating schools generally.
That said, Bridges was among just four Black students in New Orleans who were integrating what had been all-white schools, per The Associated Press. It could be argued that a protest at the capitol against statewide desegregation was, at least, indirectly targeting her and those other students.
That said, in interviews as an adult, Bridges recalled segregationists displaying a doll inside a coffin during her walks to elementary school. Here's a portion of a 2010 conversation between Bridges and NPR's Michel Martin (emphasis ours):
MARTIN: Were you ever afraid?
Ms. BRIDGES: There were times when I was afraid because on occasion the crowd would bring a box, and this box was actually a baby's coffin. And they would put this black doll inside of the coffin. And so I would have to cross the picket line where they would walk up and down the sidewalk in front of the school, and I would have to pass the box. And I used to have nightmares about the box. So those are the days that I distinctly remember being really, really frightened.
She once told The Guardian she used to have nightmares about the doll and coffin. "I would dream that the coffin was flying around my bedroom at night."
However, we were unable to uncover any verifiable photographic evidence of segregationists carrying the coffin and doll on Bridges' route.
Through a reverse-image search , we found the in-question image on Alamy , a stock-photo company, with the caption:
Parents of children who attend two newly integrated schools in New Orleans stage a mock funeral procession up the Capitol steps in Baton Rouge, La., Nov. 23, 1960 for U.S District Judge J. Skelly Wright whose order integrated the schools. Three bus loads of demonstrators, who were given the small black flags to carry, came from New Orleans to show support of legislature meeting in special session. (AP Photo)
We tracked down the photo in The Associated Press' archives . (The caption was the same; it did not credit a specific photographer but rather "AP" in general.)
Bridges' 1999 book "Through My Eyes" includes another photo of segregationists, the coffin and the doll. However, many details about that photo, including who took it and where, remain unknown. It was possibly taken near Bridges' school, but there isn't conclusive evidence to confirm that was the case.
In that photo, one person held a sign reading, "Thank God for State Legislation." In 2013, a 3D recreation of the image was constructed in front of William Frantz Elementary School, The Associated Press reported. Below is a photograph of the exhibit, featuring Bridges and one of the former U.S. Marshals who protected her.
(AP/Michael Conroy)
In sum, while the photo in question was captured in the same city and around the same time as Bridges' highly publicized walks to school, it shows segregationists outside Louisiana's capitol building for a protest that didn't specifically target Bridges but rather school integration in general. For that reason, we labeled this claim "Mixture."
Sources:
"Biography: Ruby Bridges." National Women's History Museum , https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ruby-bridges . Accessed 15 July 2024.
Civil Rights Pioneer Meets with Marshal Who Escorted Her - CBS News . 5 Sept. 2013, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/civil-rights-pioneer-meets-with-marshal-who-escorted-her/ .
Limited, Alamy. Parents of Children Who Attend Two Newly Integrated Schools in New Orleans Stage a Mock Funeral Procession up the Capitol Steps in Baton Rouge, La., Nov. 23, 1960 for U.S District Judge J. Skelly Wright Whose Order Integrated the Schools. Three Bus Loads of Demonstrators, Who Were given the Small Black Flags to Carry, Came from New Orleans to Show Support of Legislature Meeting in Special Session. (AP Photo Stock Photo - Alamy . https://www.alamy.com/parents-of-children-who-attend-two-newly-integrated-schools-in-new-orleans-stage-a-mock-funeral-procession-up-the-capitol-steps-in-baton-rouge-la-nov-23-1960-for-us-district-judge-j-skelly-wright-whose-order-integrated-the-schools-three-bus-loads-of-demonstrators-who-were-given-the-small-black-flags-to-carry-came-from-new-orleans-to-show-support-of-legislature-meeting-in-special-session-ap-photo-image526202731.html . Accessed 15 July 2024.
N, et al. "Wisdom From A Trailblazer: Ruby Bridges Talks Racism In Education." NPR , 1 Dec. 2010. NPR , https://www.npr.org/2010/12/01/131727013/Wisdom-From-A-Trailblazer-Ruby-Bridges-Talks-Racism-In-Education .
Ruby Bridges and The Problem We All (Still) Live With | The Children's Museum of Indianapolis . https://www.childrensmuseum.org/blog/ruby-bridges-and-problem-we-all-still-live . Accessed 15 July 2024.
THROUGH MY EYES: RUBY BRIDGES | The Scholastic Teacher Store. https://shop.scholastic.com/teachers-ecommerce/teacher/books/through-my-eyes-ruby-bridges-9780590189231.html. Accessed 18 July 2024.
AP. https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/search?query=Parents%20of%20children%20who%20attend%20two%20newly%20integrated%20schools%20in%20New%20Orleans%20stage%20a%20mock%20funeral%20procession%20up%20the%20Capitol%20steps%20in%20Baton%20Rouge,%20La.,%20Nov.%2023,%201960%20for%20U.S%20District%20Judge%20J.%20Skelly%20Wright%20whose%20order%20integrated%20the%20schools.%20Three%20bus%20loads%20of%20demonstrators,%20who%20were%20given%20the%20small%20black%20flags%20to%20carry,%20came%20from%20New%20Orleans%20to%20show%20support%20of%20legislature%20meeting%20in%20special%20session.%20(AP%20Photo)&mediaType=photo&st=keyword. Accessed 18 July 2024.
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