The Heroic Ruby Bridges

by Gregg Chadwick

Norman Rockwell

The Problem We All Live With

36” x 58” oil on canvas 1963

Collection The Norman Rockwell Museum

With the insensitive political cartoon posted today by Glenn McCoy lampooning Civil Rights icon Ruby Bridges, I again am drawn to think about this iconic Norman Rockwell painting. The Problem We All Live With depicts Ruby as a young girl on her way to first grade after the school board mandated the desegregation of two New Orleans schools in 1960. Six year old Ruby Bridges was escorted by Federal Marshals to New Orleans' William Frantz Public School as its first African American student, ushering in the integration of the local public school system. Painted in 1963 when young Ruby's courage was still becoming global news, Rockwell created a cinematic scene that brings the viewer directly into the moment. We must ask ourselves - do we walk with Ruby and help protect her? Or are we the howling mob tossing rotten produce and fierce epithets at this brave girl?

Norman Rockwell's The Problem We All Live With hung in the West Wing of the White House outside of the Oval Office until October 31, 2011 during President Obama's first term. Ruby Bridges visited the White House on July 15, 2011 to view Rockwell's painting with the president. Norman Rockwell faced harsh criticism by some when his painting first appeared as the cover illustration on Look magazine's January 14,1964 issue. Over time, the painting has become a defining artwork in the continual struggle for human rights for all.

President Barack Obama, Ruby Bridges, and representatives of the Norman Rockwell Museum view Rockwell’s "The Problem We All Live With,” hanging in a West Wing hallway near the Oval Office, July 15, 2011. 

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama, Ruby Bridges, and representatives of the Norman Rockwell Museum view Rockwell’s "The Problem We All Live With,” hanging in a West Wing hallway near the Oval Office, July 15, 2011. 

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Norman Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With” Continues to Resonate as Important Symbol for Civil Rights

The Price of Beauty

by Gregg Chadwick

Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando)
Sudden Shower Over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake (Ohashi Atake no Yudachi)
(#58 from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo)
Sheet: 14 3/16" x 9 1/8" woodblock print 9th month of 1857
Brooklyn Museum
Photo Courtesy The Brooklyn Museum


Japanese fiction is a great love of mine. My taste ranges widely from the postmodern antics of Murakami, to the quiet intellectualism of Endo, to the luminous spaces of Kawabata, and to the pent up rage of Mishima. In a culture which traditionally values quietly getting along even when catastrophe strikes, fiction allows a space for readers to wail with those who hurt and lash out at those who would oppress. Japanese novels of mystery and horror provide such a space to ponder the darker recesses of humanity. Mystery writer Keigo Higashino, originally from Osaka and now resident in Tokyo, is currently one of the best selling authors in Japan. Reading "The Devotion of Suspect X" provides understanding of his popularity. Higashino's prose is both quietly poetic and noir like in its straightforwardness.

"The Devotion of Suspect X" is set in 21st century Japan and describes the plight of a single mother with a young daughter as she takes drastic action to escape an abusive, estranged husband. A brilliant math teacher who lives down the hall comes to her aid. Or does he?
From there the story takes off. Make sure you read the book until the very end.

In much Japanese writing, an evocation of place is of utmost importance. This setting creates a mood in which the characters move and interact. The first chapter of "The Devotion of Suspect X" finds us in Tokyo near the Shin-Ohashi bridge, which is memorable for its depiction by the brilliant 19th century Japanese woodcut artist, Ando Hiroshige, in "Sudden Shower Over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake" (Ohashi Atake no Yudachi) from his One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. A Japanese reader, and those quite familiar with Japan, would likely find Hiroshige's memorable image, of figures huddling under straw umbrellas as they scurry across the bridge in an effort to hide from a driving. slanting rain, pop into their head. I know I did. And this image provided a rich backdrop of life under pressure from time and nature.

I enjoyed "The Devotion of Suspect X" very much and now have a new Japanese author to follow - Keigo Higashino.

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Keigo Higashino
Hiroshige's "Shin-Ohashi Bridge"

The Problem We All Live With

Norman Rockwell
The Problem We All Live With
36” x 58” oil on canvas 1963
Collection The Norman Rockwell Museum
(Currently on loan to the White House through October 2011)

Civil Rights icon Ruby Bridges visited the White House on July 15, 2011 to view Norman Rockwell's 1963 painting, The Problem We All Live With, which depicts Ruby as a young girl on her way to first grade after the school board mandated the desegregation of two New Orleans schools in 1960. Six year old Ruby Bridges was escorted by Federal Marshals to New Orleans' William Frantz Public School as its first African American student, ushering in the integration of the local public school system.

President Barack Obama, Ruby Bridges, and representatives of the Norman Rockwell Museum view Rockwell’s "The Problem We All Live With,” hanging in a West Wing hallway near the Oval Office, July 15, 2011.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Norman Rockwell's The Problem We All Live With will be on display in the West Wing of the White House outside of the Oval Office until October 31st. Another Rockwell painting, donated to the White House by director Steven Spielberg in 1994, hangs nearby. Norman Rockwell faced harsh criticism by some when his painting first appeared as the cover illustration on Look magazine's January 14,1964 issue. Over time, the painting has become a defining artwork in the continual struggle for human rights for all.



More at:
Norman Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With” Continues to Resonate as Important Symbol for Civil Rights