Civil rights activist Ruby Bridges addressed hundreds of locals and BYU students on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 in honor of the new Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Museum of Art.
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), The Problem We All Live With, 1963, oil on canvas, 36 x 58 inches. Norman Rockwell Museum Collections. American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell has been organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Rockwell immortalized Bridges in a 1963 painting showing her historic walk into a New Orleans school. Six-year-old Bridges was the first black student to integrate a Southern elementary school, and four U.S. marshals escorted her through a mob on her first day.
Bridges spoke about her experience and the importance of protecting children from racism to her audience at BYU.
(Whitney Hales)