Current:Home > MyNew Orleans marks with parade the 64th anniversary of 4 little girls integrating city schools-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
New Orleans marks with parade the 64th anniversary of 4 little girls integrating city schools
View Date:2024-12-23 15:05:38
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans marked the 64th anniversary of the day four Black 6-year-old girls integrated New Orleans schools with a parade — a celebration in stark contrast to the tensions and anger that roiled the city on Nov. 14, 1960.
Federal marshals were needed then to escort Tessie Prevost Williams, Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Ruby Bridges to school while white mobs opposing desegregation shouted, cursed and threw rocks. Williams, who died in July, walked into McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School that day with Tate and Etienne. Bridges — perhaps the best known of the four, thanks to a Norman Rockwell painting of the scene — braved the abuse to integrate William Frantz Elementary.
The women now are often referred to as the New Orleans Four.
“I call them America’s little soldier girls,” said Diedra Meredith of the New Orleans Legacy Project, the organization behind the event. “They were civil rights pioneers at 6 years old.”
“I was wondering why they were so angry with me,” Etienne recalled Thursday. “I was just going to school and I felt like if they could get to me they’d want to kill me — and I definitely didn’t know why at 6 years old.”
Marching bands in the city’s Central Business District prompted workers and customers to walk out of one local restaurant to see what was going on. Tourists were caught by surprise, too.
“We were thrilled to come upon it,” said Sandy Waugh, a visitor from Chestertown, Maryland. “It’s so New Orleans.”
Rosie Bell, a social worker from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, said the parade was a “cherry on top” that she wasn’t expecting Thursday morning.
“I got so lucky to see this,” Bell said.
For Etienne, the parade was her latest chance to celebrate an achievement she couldn’t fully appreciate when she was a child.
“What we did opened doors for other people, you know for other students, for other Black students,” she said. “I didn’t realize it at the time but as I got older I realized that. ... They said that we rocked the nation for what we had done, you know? And I like hearing when they say that.”
___
Associated Press reporter Kevin McGill contributed to this story.
veryGood! (5335)
Related
- The USDA is testing raw milk for the avian flu. Is raw milk safe?
- 'American Idol' contestant tearfully sings in Albanian after judges FaceTime his mom
- Caitlin Clark is among college basketball's greats, with or without an NCAA title
- Idina Menzel wishes 'Adele Dazeem' a happy birthday 10 years after John Travolta gaffe
- Bowl projections: SEC teams joins College Football Playoff field
- Do AI video-generators dream of San Pedro? Madonna among early adopters of AI’s next wave
- Sam Asghari opens up about Britney Spears divorce, says he'll never 'talk badly' about her
- The 'Wiseman' Paul Heyman named first inductee of 2024 WWE Hall of Fame class
- Voters in Oakland oust Mayor Sheng Thao just 2 years into her term
- Curfews, checkpoints, mounted patrols: Miami, Florida cities brace for spring break 2024
Ranking
- As US Catholic bishops meet, Trump looms over their work on abortion and immigration
- Jason Kelce Credits Wife Kylie Kelce for Best Years of His Career Amid Retirement
- Full transcript of Face the Nation, March 3, 2024
- Photos show humpback whale washed up on Virginia Beach: Officials to examine cause of death
- Tuskegee University closes its campus to the public, fires security chief after shooting
- Authorities say man who killed 2 in small Minnesota town didn’t know his victims
- Sinéad O'Connor's estate slams Donald Trump for using 'Nothing Compares 2 U' at rallies
- Rare Deal Alert- Get 2 Benefit Fan Fest Mascaras for the Price of 1 and Double Your Lash Game
Recommendation
-
Missing Ole Miss student declared legally dead as trial for man accused in his death looms
-
JetBlue, Spirit ending $3.8B deal to combine after court ruling blocked their merger
-
Horoscopes Today, March 3, 2024
-
Historic Texas wildfire threatens to grow as the cause remains under investigation
-
Driver dies after crashing on hurricane-damaged highway in North Carolina
-
Sleepy bears > shining moments: March Napness brings bracketology to tired sanctuary bears
-
New York City nearly resolves delays in benefits to thousands of low income residents, mayor says
-
Kate Middleton Spotted Out for First Time Since Abdominal Surgery