New Orleans marks anniversary of 4 girls integrating schools

By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans is marking the 61st anniversary of the integration of its public schools by four 6-year-old girls. Weekend events began with a Friday morning news conference at New Orleans City Hall and an evening screening of a video tribute to the four. A special church service and a motorcade are set for Sunday. That’s the 61st anniversary of the day U.S. marshals escorted the children past angry crowds to previously all-white institutions. Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost entered McDonogh 19 public school on Nov. 14, 1960. That same day Ruby Bridges was escorted into William Frantz Elementary in New Orleans, a moment made famous in a Norman Rockwell painting.