ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY) – In February, a Ruby Bridges portrait will be on loan to Elizabeth City State University.

The work comes from Nags Head artist James Melvin. It is a modern-day depiction of Ruby Bridges.

The university will have the painting on loan for three months starting on Thursday, February 8. It is on display in the G.R. Little Library through May in partnership with College of Albemarle.

Before the painting arrived on-campus, the student-led 1704 Media Productions team hosted screenings of the move Ruby Bridges.

Bridges, 69, is an American civil rights activist. She was the first Black student who was the first to integrate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans, La. in 1960, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that declared segregated schools unconstitutional. 

It was announced this past November that Bridges is a 2024 Inductee in the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

“Ruby Bridges and her story are a symbol in the black community – and the world – of the ills our society has endured and how far we’ve come,” said Clarence Goss, assistant professor of graphic design and faculty director of 1704 Media Productions. 

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