WITNESSarchive

W–043 · Documentary photograph and sources

The “Funeral” of Judge Wright

A small coffin bearing a doll was carried up the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol. The parents who had come from New Orleans on 23 November 1960 were staging a funeral for federal judge J. Skelly Wright. Nine days earlier, following his ruling, four Black first graders had entered two of the city’s previously all-white schools.

1. The coffin at the Capitol steps

Opponents of school integration carry a coffin holding a doll up the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol. Baton Rouge, 23 November 1960, according to the Associated Press caption.
Opponents of school integration carry a coffin holding a doll up the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol. Baton Rouge, 23 November 1960, according to the Associated Press caption.
Provenance and sources for frame 1

The Associated Press catalogue caption identifies the Capitol steps in Baton Rouge, 23 November 1960, and the protest against Judge J. Skelly Wright. It does not name a photographer. Displayed file: 1300 × 990 pixels. No free licence has been established for this file. Full image record in Russian.

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The confrontation had been years in the making. In 1952, Black families, supported by NAACP lawyers, sued the New Orleans school board. Two years later, the US Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Wright ordered the city to begin desegregation in 1956, but the board stalled. In May 1960, with no workable plan forthcoming, he set one himself: start with the first grade, then open another grade to integrated schooling each year.

2. The procession on the steps

A wider view of the same procession: protesters carry black flags and signs while taking the coffin up the Capitol steps.
A wider view of the same procession: protesters carry black flags and signs while taking the coffin up the Capitol steps.
Provenance and sources for frame 2

This view belongs to the same procession by visual comparison with the individually captioned AP frame 2NG2GXK: the people, coffin, placards and Capitol architecture match. An individual archival caption for this file has not been recovered; its date and place come from the identified procession, and its photographer is unknown. Displayed file: 1300 × 983 pixels. No free licence has been established for this file. The photographer is not identified in the cited record. Full image record in Russian.

alamy.comc7.alamy.comView image file

On 14 November, Ruby Bridges entered William Frantz. Gail Etienne, Tessie Prevost and Leona Tate went to McDonogh No. 19. All four girls were six years old. Federal marshals escorted them; opponents of integration gathered outside; white parents removed their children. Louisiana’s legislature endorsed the boycott, urging parents to keep their children away from the two schools.

3. The black banner

The group beside the Capitol wall. A man holds a large black banner; the doll’s coffin is visible behind him.
The group beside the Capitol wall. A man holds a large black banner; the doll’s coffin is visible behind him.
Provenance and sources for frame 3

This view belongs to the same procession by visual comparison with the individually captioned AP frame 2NG2GXK: the people, coffin, placards and Capitol architecture match. An individual archival caption for this file has not been recovered; its date and place come from the identified procession, and its photographer is unknown. Displayed file: 1300 × 989 pixels. No free licence has been established for this file. The photographer is not identified in the cited record. Full image record in Russian.

alamy.comc7.alamy.comView image file

The protesters travelled to Baton Rouge in three buses. They were given small black flags, and the procession with the coffin made its way into the Capitol, where the state legislature was holding a special session. The next day, the Times-Picayune described the doll representing Wright: a black suit, with a miniature judge’s gavel tucked into its pocket. According to the paper, members of the House of Representatives rose and applauded the procession.

4. By the monument

The procession passes a monument near the Capitol. The coffin remains visible behind a woman holding a flag.
The procession passes a monument near the Capitol. The coffin remains visible behind a woman holding a flag.
Provenance and sources for frame 4

This view belongs to the same procession by visual comparison with the individually captioned AP frame 2NG2GXK: the people, coffin, placards and Capitol architecture match. An individual archival caption for this file has not been recovered; its date and place come from the identified procession, and its photographer is unknown. Displayed file: 1300 × 983 pixels. No free licence has been established for this file. The photographer is not identified in the cited record. Full image record in Russian.

alamy.comc7.alamy.comView image file

Online, the photograph is often captioned as a threat aimed at Ruby Bridges outside her school. Ruby did recall protesters displaying a Black doll in a child-sized coffin. But the Associated Press caption places this procession in Baton Rouge and identifies Judge Wright as its target. There is no evidence that Ruby saw this particular doll or coffin. Her own account, along with photographs of her school days, appears in Six Years Old, Four Marshals.

5. The doll in the coffin

A closer view of the doll lying in the small coffin beside a wreath as protesters carry it.
A closer view of the doll lying in the small coffin beside a wreath as protesters carry it.
Provenance and sources for frame 5

This view belongs to the same procession by visual comparison with the individually captioned AP frame 2NG2GXK: the people, coffin, placards and Capitol architecture match. An individual archival caption for this file has not been recovered; its date and place come from the identified procession, and its photographer is unknown. Displayed file: 1300 × 980 pixels. No free licence has been established for this file. The photographer is not identified in the cited record. Full image record in Russian.

alamy.comc7.alamy.comView image file

The schools stayed open. Ruby continued to attend under the marshals’ protection, and the legal fight over desegregation continued beyond November 1960. In 1962, Wright joined the federal appeals court in Washington, DC. He served there for more than a quarter of a century, serving as chief judge from 1978 to 1981.

6. A later colourisation

A modern, cropped colour version of the first photograph. Neither colourist nor method is known; the colours are not historical evidence.
A modern, cropped colour version of the first photograph. Neither colourist nor method is known; the colours are not historical evidence.
Provenance and sources for frame 6

A modern colour crop of the first AP frame, 2NG2GXK. The colourist and process are unknown, and the colours are not historical evidence. Displayed file: 862 × 477 pixels. No free licence has been established for this file. This frame or variant is a colourisation; its method and credit are described in the source record. Full image record in Russian.

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