Justice has been served. Beth Schmidt, the Safe Routes to School coordinator who organized the annual Ruby Bridges Walk to School event for Salem Schools, has been awarded $250,000 in a settlement with the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments (MWVCOG).

Schmidt was fired from her job last year after a complaint was filed by unnamed fellow employees alleging Schmidt made them feel uncomfortable when she wore a T-shirt under her jacket portraying the iconic painting from Norman Rockwell, The Problem We All Live With, at a team planning meeting. The painting, which depicts a Black 6-year-old Ruby Bridges walking to school flanked by white federal agents with a racial epithet scrawled on the wall behind her, was the inspiration for the national Ruby Bridges Walk to School campaign.

It was the same shirt she wore while testifying before the Oregon Legislature earlier in the year when it passed a Resolution declaring Ruby Bridges Day in Oregon. We profiled her story earlier this summer in The Political Center.

Schmidt, with the help of noted civil right attorney Lake Perriguey, filed suit against MWVCOG claiming her firing was unjustified and violated her First Amendment rights.

Appearing in court earlier this year, federal Judge Ann Aiken was clearly unimpressed MWVCOG’s arguments and suggested the council should endeavor to settle the case before she issued a ruling.

“I don’t think there is a better way of defining an issue of public concern as the wearing of that shirt with that iconic photograph,” Aiken said to the MWVCOG attorney in court that day.

MWVCOG is a regional government body of elected officials from Marion, Polk, and Yamhill counties.

“I am grateful for Lake first and foremost for being willing to listen to me and fight for me,” Schmidt said on Friday. She also noted the significance of remembering our past, even if it makes some people uncomfortable.

“History is meant for learning. There is immense value in education,” Schmidt continued. “Ruby Bridges taught me how to be courageous and to share her experience with others. By wearing the (shirt), I was in support of Ruby Bridges and civil rights history. Both Ruby Bridges and Norman Rockwell inspired me to fight for my First Amendment right, the freedom of speech.

“We all hold our own personal choices, but through education and experiences, we can all choose to go forward in justice and peace.”

Schmidt also thanked Ruby Bridges, the Ruby Bridges Foundation, Sen. Deb Patterson (D-Salem), Lake James Perriguey, and her family and friends for their support.

Schmidt, who lives in Salem, will take a little time to process the long ordeal and then begin the search for a new job where she can utilize her organizing talents. She noted the iconic Rockwell painting is currently on loan to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles where it can be viewed by the public.

Ruby Bridges Day is officially Nov. 14, but since it falls on a Saturday, the Ruby Bridges Walk to School event is slated for Wednesday Nov. 18.