Barbara Henry

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Barbara Henry (born May 1, 1932) is a retired American teacher most notable for teaching Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to attend the all-white William Frantz Elementary School, located in New Orleans. Henry had gone to Girls' Latin School in Boston, where "we learned… to appreciate and enjoy our important commonalities, amid our external differences of class, community, or color." She had taught in overseas military dependents' schools, which were integrated. Henry and her husband had been in New Orleans for two months when the superintendent called to offer her a teaching position. When Henry asked if the job was in a school that would be integrated, the superintendent replied, "Would that make any difference to you?" She said no. On the first day of the school year in 1960, Henry's and Bridges' relentless refusal to be intimidated caused them to become renowned figures in the American civil rights battle. As soon as Bridges got into the school, white parents went in and...

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