Pictures Of Ruby Bridges

Mary Reese: Memories of My Years at the South Elementary School

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So many memories....so many principals...and so many changes over time.

When I came back to the South Elementary after being an elementary student there, I was a student teacher from Boston State College (now part of U Mass Boston). I was so excited yet nervous working in the building with my own principal, Miss Mary Daly. I loved my time student teaching in grade 1 and grade 4 from September to December of 1972 with Mrs. Doble and Miss Sturgis.

In the spring, after finishing my last semester, Miss Daly hired me to finish out the year for a first grade teacher, Mrs. Kerman, that left to have a baby. It was so exciting having my first class, developing lessons and creating bulletin boards. I must have done a good job because Miss Daly recommended me for this first grade beginning in the fall of 1973. My lifelong dream had come true....I was a teacher! And so began my career...

Everyone remembers their first class and I am no exception. I am still in contact with two of those students....Maura Crowley and Julie Swenson Giroux. I remember teaching a unit on the circus and I still have photos of the children in costume performing in our makeshift 3-ring circus. The lions were in their cages (kneeling on the desks), the ringmaster kept everyone in control and the clowns had everyone laughing. The Circus Theme Music played over and over because we rehearsed so many times.

I was married in October of 1973 and Julie Swenson attended my wedding. I was so touched that she wanted to see her teacher, the new bride, at church. I believe there is a photo of that too.

At the end of that year I was informed that I was being transferred to the Chemung School (now the Hansen School) because my room was needed for a new class and the South would only have two first grades not the three that we had at the time. I remember being devastated. I didn't want to leave. The Chemung needed another grade 1 but really didn't have a classroom available. I was to be in the library. When I finally accepted that I would be moving, fate intervened and a grade 2 teacher, Mrs. Rogers, announced that she was leaving to have a baby. Miss Daly said that I could stay and move to grade 2, room 6. And so began my many years (37) in room 6.

The next year, I was fortunate to have some of my first grade students move right along with me to second grade. Six of the nicest students were my students for another 180 days. Yes, the two girls I mentioned went with me to second grade. I discovered that grade two was a wonderful place to be. The students were just that much older. They understood routines and expectations better than the first graders. However, this was not to last. The following year it was back to grade 1 but I stayed in room 6. The year after that (1976) it was back to grade 2 and there I have been ever since.

Ruby Bridges at Mount Vernon Hotel Museum « Together — Book Talk ...

As one of the books to discuss, and my group was not any different.  I had already experienced the power of sharing this book with kids in my own library at P.S.6.  I also expected that most of the participants—kids and adults alike—would already be familiar with Ruby’s story given the popularity of the book and the movie that was made about Ruby’s ordeal a few years back.  Sure enough, everyone was already well acquainted with this book and one child even exclaimed that this was the ninth time she read it.  Yet, we were all moved by Ruby’s story all over again.  At the beginning of our session, the children asked if they could take turns reading the book out loud instead of hearing it from a facilitator.  Listening to Ruby’s story read by children deepened our awareness that this happened to a young girl.  When our readers stumbled over a passage or didn’t know a word, it was a reminder that six-year-old Ruby was forced to live through complications created by grown-ups around her.  It set an important and appropriate tone for the entire evening.

I brought with me a copy of Ruby Bridges’ autobiography Through My Eyes , it’s difficult to imagine that this actually happened to someone just a few decades ago.  The photos bring home the reality of that situation.  We spent time looking at the faces of the white protesters—many of them children—and tried to understand what motivated them to treat Ruby the way they did.  The autobiography also helped us understand Ruby herself and what kept her going.  A burning question for all of us was “How did such a little girl find the strength and courage to face those protesters every day?”   The autobiography offered us answers, and in Ruby’s own words: