Ruby Bridges returns to National Civil Rights Museum for annual reading festival

Memphis, TN, May 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The National Civil Rights Museum is hosting its eighth Ruby Bridges Reading Festival on Saturday, May 17, featuring celebrated civil rights icon and author Ruby Bridges. Held on the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision anniversary, the free event honors Bridges’ lifelong advocacy for equity, education, and youth empowerment. This year’s festival is significant in that it is held on the anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision.

At just six years old, Bridges made history by integrating William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, facing mobs and isolation in a pivotal moment for the civil rights movement. Today, she continues to fight injustice—this time through the power of books, public engagement, and her foundation’s youth programs.
Bridges will read from her latest work, Ruby Bridges: A Talk with My Teacher, which pays tribute to Barbara Henry, the only teacher who stood by her during the 1960 desegregation crisis. The book highlights how educators can champion justice amid modern threats like classroom censorship, civil rights erosion, and divestment in public education. It invites young readers to see themselves as agents of change and recognizes the teachers who help shape a fairer world.

“Ruby Bridges represents the courage and clarity we need today,” said Museum President Dr. Russ Wigginton. “This festival connects her enduring legacy to new generations of kids determined to build a better world.”

Since receiving the museum’s Freedom Award in 2015, Bridges has partnered annually to uplift youth voices through storytelling. Her foundation continues to focus on empowering children and promoting diversity.

“Books and stories help children express themselves and imagine a better world,” Bridges said. “This festival helps make sure their voices are heard.”

Festival highlights include guest readings by children’s authors and thousands of book giveaways. Families can also enjoy crafts, music, balloon art, storytelling, and educational fun for children from pre-K through elementary.

Guest authors include:

• Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges, who also authored Dear Ruby: Hear Our Hearts, along with Through My Eyes, Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story, This Is Your Time, and her 2022 release, I Am Ruby Bridges;
• Dr. Michael G. Long – author of youth books on Bayard Rustin and civil resistance include Unstoppable: How Bayard Rustin Organized the 1963 March on Washington and Troublemaker for Justice;
• Andrea Willilams – author of Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues
• Martha Kelly, Memphis illustrator, printmaker, painter, and author of M is for Memphis.

Sylvamo is the event’s presenting sponsor, with support from International Paper, the Korones Family Foundation, Urban Child Institute, the Tennessee Arts Commission, ARTSmemphis, and the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation. Community partners include the Memphis Public Library and Information Center and Porter Leath Books from Birth.

The outdoor event is held in the museum’s guest parking lot, weather permitting. In the event of rain, the festival will occur inside the museum’s Hooks Hyde Hall. For more information, visit civilrightsmuseum.org.  

About the National Civil Rights Museum
The NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM, located at the historic Lorraine Motel where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, gives a comprehensive overview of the American Civil Rights Movement from 1619 to the present. Since the Museum opened in 1991, millions of visitors from around the world have come, including more than 90,000 students annually. Serving as the new public square, the Museum is steadfast in its mission to chronicle the American civil rights movement, examine today’s global civil and human rights issues, provoke thoughtful debate, and serve as a catalyst for positive social change. 

A Smithsonian Affiliate and an internationally acclaimed cultural institution, the Museum was recognized as TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Top 5% U.S. Museum, USA Today‘s Top 10 Best American Iconic Attractions; Top 10 Best Historical Spots in the U.S. by TLC’s Family Travel; Must See by the Age of 15 by Budget Travel and Kids; Top 10, American Treasures by USA Today; and Best Memphis Attraction by The Commercial Appeal and the Memphis Business Journal.

– civilrightsmuseum.org

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