Robert Coles, a child psychiatrist who taught at Harvard University, decided to travel to the South in the early days of the civil rights struggle to see for himself what effect the tension was having upon little children. He soon developed a special interest in Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old black girl in New Orleans. She walked bravely to class each morning accompanied by federal marshals who protected her from the ever-present abuse of an angry mob.

How was she able to stand such tension? Where did a little girl like Ruby get such courage?

Coles was a trained social scientist. He knew what to look for. He asked her all kinds of questions.

One day, Ruby’s mother felt comfortable enough to ask Coles to come to the house. She talked to him at the kitchen table and inquired about what kind of qu…