Ruby Bridges walks into history once again

Civil rights icon, activist, author and speaker Ruby Bridges — the first African American child to attend a formerly white-only school in Louisiana in 1960 — is among the first four women who will be inducted into The National Women’s History Museum Class of 2026. Bridges will receive the Women Making History Award for her lifelong commitment to advancing educational opportunity. U.S. history teachers Serene Williams and Kristen Kelly will receive the inaugural Meryl Streep Educator Award, and ArentFoxSchiff the Evelyn Y. Davis Corporate Changemaker Award in recognition of more than three decades of pro bono support of the museum. Additional inductees will be announced in August. The women will be honored at the Women Making History Awards gala in Chicago on Nov. 6.