Who were the four US Federal Deputy Marshals escorting Ruby Bridges?

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Accepted answer

We very likely have the names. Two are confirmed by the Washington Post:

Ruby Bridges will have a reunion of sorts today with Jesse Grider and Charles Burkes. In 1960, she was a little girl integrating one of New Orleans's public schools; they were federal marshals escorting her to class

And relatives posted the other two, so the list is:

  1. Charles Burks
  2. Jesse Grider (also see this answer with a comment from the nephew/niece of Grider)
  3. William N. Darsey Sr. this is quite a through answer from the daughter of Mr. Darsey.
  4. James Davis -- also the answer from the US Marshal's service itself mentions a "Jim Davis". The other names mentioned in that answer might have been at the Frantz school at another time.

Al Butler is confirmed by the US Marshals to be with the McDonogh Three and not at Frantz. This seems to be the case with Herschel Garner as well -- he might have been at Frantz but not when the famous photo was snapped. The 50th reunion videos Part I, Part II might have more confirmation but the available evidence makes me confident we have the four names right.

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One of them is US Marshall Herschel Garner of Rison, AR. He was present in New Orleans with several school integrations during this time.

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The man top left in the picture in the question was later Clerk of Court of the US District Court of Western District of KY. His first name was Jesse but I can't remember his last.

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In the top photo the US Marshal front left side of photo without a hat is James Davis of Bath, NC. He was my cousin (by marriage).

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One of the US Marshsll’s was my dad, William N. Darsey Sr. He is not in the picture above because he’s already further down the steps. I uploaded the picture with him in it below. So the gentleman who contacted the US Marshall’s office., I’m sorry but they got at least one name wrong.In the Rockwell print he is front/back. I do not know the names of the other 2. Hope this helps. Winnie enter image description hereenter image description here

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I shared the question with the US Marshal's service and received the following reply:

Thank you for your e-mail, which was forwarded to me. I knew the late Al Butler, and he told me he was at the McDonogh school, not the Ruby Bridges detail. He was directing the operation, but stayed at McDonogh. The deputies changed at least once, but Charlie Burks was lead at the Frantz School and stayed throughout. The other deputies are likely Ray Eschment, Jim French, and Jim Davis. The other widely distributed photograph does show the four of them—some from the back.

I have written extensively on this operation in Forging the Star (the book was released only about two months ago) on pages 37-45. D. Turk, Historian USMS,(personal email, 12 September 2016)

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