Ruby Bridges is an American civil rights activist who became a symbol of school desegregation. Born on September 8, 1954, in Tylertown, Mississippi, she was the first African American child to integrate an all-white elementary school in the South, attending William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1960. At just six years old, Ruby faced angry crowds and threats but continued her education with courage and determination. Her experience helped advance the civil rights movement and school integration in the United States.