Freedom Riders - Wikipedia

Freedom Riders - Wikipedia
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American civil rights activists of the 1960s
"Freedom ride" redirects here. For the Australian Freedom Ride, see
Freedom Ride (Australia)
. For the book, see
Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice
Freedom Riders
Part of the
civil rights movement
Mugshots
of Freedom Riders, as displayed at the
Center for Civil and Human Rights
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Date
May 4 – December 10, 1961
(7 months and 6 days)
Location
Southern United States
First Baptist Church
Parchman Farm
and
Jackson, Mississippi
Caused by
Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896)
Racial segregation
in interstate and intrastate transportation and public accommodations
Failed compliance with ruling
Morgan v. Virginia
(1946)
Journey of Reconciliation
in 1947
Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company
(1955)
Ongoing boycott and sit-in demonstrations in the south
Boynton v. Virginia
(1960)
Resulted in
436 individuals participated in at least 60 separate Freedom Rides
First time "jail, no bail" tactic employed on large scale since the
Nashville sit-ins
Desegregation order from
Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC)
Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE) recognized as a serious
civil rights
organization
Creation of
Route 40 campaign
Eastern Shore project
, and
Freedom Highways campaign
Voter Education Project
established
Parties
Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE)
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC)
Nashville Student Movement
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP)
Governor of Mississippi
Governor of Alabama
Birmingham Police Commissioner
Ku Klux Klan
(KKK)
Lead figures
CORE members
James Farmer
Gordon Carey
SNCC and Nashville Student Movement members
Diane Nash
John Lewis
James Lawson
Bernard Lafayette
James Bevel
Governors
Ross Barnett
John M. Patterson
City of Birmingham
Eugene "Bull" Connor
Tom Cook
Freedom Riders
were
civil rights
activists who rode interstate buses into the
segregated
Southern
United States
in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the
United States Supreme Court
decisions
Morgan v. Virginia
(1946) and
Boynton v. Virginia
(1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.
The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government had done nothing to enforce them. The first Freedom Ride left
Washington, D.C.
, on May 4, 1961,
and was scheduled to arrive in
New Orleans
on May 17.
Boynton
outlawed
racial segregation
in the restaurants and waiting rooms in terminals serving buses that crossed state lines.
Five years prior to the
Boynton
ruling, the
Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC) had issued a ruling in
Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company
(1955) that had explicitly denounced the
Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896) doctrine of
separate but equal
in interstate bus travel. The ICC failed to enforce its ruling, and
Jim Crow
travel laws remained in force throughout the South.
citation needed
The Freedom Riders challenged this status quo by riding interstate buses in the South in mixed racial groups to challenge local laws or customs that enforced segregation in seating. The Freedom Rides and the violent reactions they provoked bolstered the American
civil rights movement
, calling national attention to the disregard for federal law and the violence used to enforce segregation in the southern United States. Police arrested riders for
trespassing
unlawful assembly
, violating state and local
Jim Crow laws
, and other alleged offenses, but often they first let white mobs of
counter-protestors
attack the riders without intervention.
The
Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE) sponsored most of the subsequent Freedom Rides, but some were also organized by the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC). The Freedom Rides, beginning in 1961, followed dramatic
sit-ins
against segregated
lunch counters
conducted by students and youth throughout the South, and boycotts of retail establishments that maintained segregated facilities.
The Supreme Court's decision in
Boynton
supported the right of interstate travelers to disregard
local segregation ordinances
. Southern local and state police considered the actions of the Freedom Riders to be criminal and arrested them in some locations. In some localities, such as
Birmingham, Alabama
, the police cooperated with
Ku Klux Klan
chapters and other white people opposing the actions, and allowed mobs to attack the riders.
History
edit
Prelude
edit
The Freedom Riders were inspired by the 1947
Journey of Reconciliation
, led by
Bayard Rustin
and
George Houser
and co-sponsored by the
Fellowship of Reconciliation
and the then-fledgling
Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE). Like the Freedom Rides of 1961, the Journey of Reconciliation was intended to test an earlier
Supreme Court
ruling that banned
racial discrimination
in interstate travel. Rustin,
Igal Roodenko
Joe Felmet
and Andrew Johnnson, were arrested and sentenced to serve on a
chain gang
in
North Carolina
for violating local
Jim Crow laws
regarding segregated seating on public transportation.
The first Freedom Ride began on May 4, 1961. Led by CORE Director
James Farmer
, 13 young riders (seven black, six white, including but not limited to
John Lewis
(21),
Genevieve Hughes
(28), Mae Frances Moultrie, Joseph Perkins, Charles Person (18), Ivor Moore,
William E. Harbour
(19),
Joan Trumpauer Mullholland
(19), and
Ed Blankenheim
),
left Washington, DC, on
Greyhound
(from the
Greyhound Terminal
) and
Trailways
buses. Their plan was to ride through
Virginia
, the Carolinas,
Georgia
Alabama
, and
Mississippi
, ending in
New Orleans, Louisiana
, where a civil rights rally was planned. Many of the Riders were sponsored by CORE and
SNCC
with 75% of the Riders between 18 and 30 years old.
citation needed
A diverse group of volunteers came from 39 states, and were from different economic classes and racial backgrounds.
10
Most were college students and received training in nonviolent tactics.
11
The Freedom Riders' tactics were to have at least one interracial pair sitting in adjoining seats, and at least one black rider sitting up front, where seats had been reserved for white customers by local custom throughout the South. The rest of the team would sit scattered throughout the rest of the bus. One rider would abide by the South's segregation rules in order to avoid arrest and to contact CORE and arrange bail for those who were arrested.
Only minor trouble was encountered in Virginia and North Carolina, but
John Lewis
was attacked in
Rock Hill
South Carolina
. More than 300 Riders were arrested in
Charlotte
, North Carolina;
Winnsboro
, South Carolina; and
Jackson
, Mississippi.
10
Lives as Freedom Riders
edit
The Freedom Rides occurred during the spring and summer of 1961. However, the idea of an interracial bus ride through the South, at a time when racial segregation was mandated in public transportation, originated in 1947. Bayard Rustin and George Houser, who were part of a civil rights organization called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), came up with a plan to test whether southern long-distance buses were following a 1946 Supreme Court ruling that prohibited segregation on interstate travel.
12
"Yet the Freedom Rides, in plural, was just the beginning. The Alabama attacks, coupled with the Mississippi arrests, inspired multiple small bands of civil rights supporters from all over the continental United States to head southward too," explains Arsenault.
12
The riders in 1961 successfully completed their journey through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. However, they encountered violence in Alabama. A white segregationist mob attacked and burned one of the two buses they were traveling in outside Anniston. The second group of riders faced violence from Ku Klux Klansmen in Birmingham, while the city police deliberately held back.
12
The Freedom Rides had two important outcomes. Firstly, due to the pressure from Robert Kennedy's Justice Department, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), which had regulatory power over interstate buses and terminals, declared an end to racial segregation in all waiting rooms and lunch counters, effective from November 1, 1961. Although not everyone immediately followed this rule, Arsenault points out that this directive sent a clear message to southern whites that desegregation of other institutions was likely to happen soon.
13
Mob violence in Anniston and Birmingham
edit
Main article:
Anniston and Birmingham bus attacks
The Greyhound bus attack site (center) is south of Anniston on Old Birmingham Highway (right).
See
Freedom Riders National Monument
(2017 photo)
Violence at the Anniston Trailways Terminal, at 901 Noble St., is commemorated with a mural (2012 photo)
The
Birmingham, Alabama
, Police Commissioner,
Bull Connor
, together with Police Sergeant Tom Cook (an avid
Ku Klux Klan
supporter), organized violence against the Freedom Riders with local Klan chapters. The pair made plans to bring the Ride to an end in Alabama. They assured
Gary Thomas Rowe
, an
FBI
informer
14
and member of Eastview Klavern #13 (the most violent Klan group in Alabama), that the mob would have fifteen minutes to attack the Freedom Riders without any arrests being made. The plan was to allow an initial assault in
Anniston
with a final assault taking place in Birmingham.
Anniston
edit
On Sunday, May 14, 1961, Mother's Day, in
Anniston, Alabama
, a mob of
Klansmen
, some still in church attire, attacked the first of the two Greyhound buses. The driver tried to leave the station, but he was blocked until KKK members slashed its tires.
15
The mob forced the crippled bus to stop several miles outside town and then threw a
firebomb
into it.
16
17
As the bus burned, the mob held the doors shut, intending to burn the riders to death. Sources disagree, but either an exploding
fuel tank
16
or an undercover state investigator who was brandishing a revolver caused the mob to retreat, and the riders escaped the bus.
18
The mob beat the riders after they got out. Warning shots which were fired into the air by highway patrolmen were the only thing which prevented the riders from being
lynched
16
The roadside site in Anniston and the downtown Greyhound station were preserved as part of the
Freedom Riders National Monument
in 2017.
Some injured riders were taken to Anniston Memorial Hospital.
19
That night, the hospitalized Freedom Riders, most of whom had been refused care, were removed from the hospital at 2 am, because the staff feared the mob outside the hospital. The local civil rights leader Rev.
Fred Shuttlesworth
organized several cars of black citizens to rescue the injured Freedom Riders in defiance of the white supremacists. The black people were under the leadership of
Colonel Stone Johnson
and were openly armed as they arrived at the hospital, protecting the Freedom Riders from the mob.
20
When the Trailways bus reached Anniston and pulled in at the terminal an hour after the Greyhound bus was burned, it was boarded by eight Klansmen. They beat the Freedom Riders and left them semi-conscious in the back of the bus.
16
Birmingham
edit
On Sunday morning, May 14, the Freedom Riders embarked on a journey from Atlanta in two buses that also accommodated regular passengers. However, the first bus was unable to reach Birmingham as it was attacked by a group of 200 men. The attackers hurled a firebomb through a rear window of the bus, and the Freedom Riders were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were mostly ignored until being instructed to leave. The bus was left completely destroyed, and this became the first memorable image of the Freedom Ride.
21
A mob of white people beat Freedom Riders in
Birmingham, Alabama
. This picture was reclaimed by the FBI from a local journalist who also was beaten and whose camera was smashed.
16
When the bus arrived in Birmingham, it was attacked by a mob of KKK members
15
aided and abetted by police under the orders of Commissioner Connor.
22
As the riders exited the bus, they were beaten by the mob with baseball bats, iron
pipes
and
bicycle
chains. Among the attacking Klansmen was
Gary Thomas Rowe Jr.
, an FBI informant. White Freedom Riders were singled out for especially frenzied beatings;
James Peck
required more than 50 stitches to the wounds in his head.
23
Peck was taken to
Carraway Methodist Medical Center
, which refused to treat him; he was later treated at
Jefferson Hillman Hospital
24
25
On the afternoon of that same Sunday, the second bus arrived at Birmingham's Trailways station, with James Peck as the captain of this leg. Peck, a 46-year-old descendant of the
Peck & Peck
New York retail family and one of the two Harvard alums on the ride, had participated in CORE'S 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, where he was surprised by the level of tolerance towards integration among drivers and passengers. However, fourteen years later, he faced a hostile group of white men in sports shirts, who carried lead pipes hidden in paper bags. Peck challenged them, declaring that they would have to kill him before hurting his fellow Freedom Riders. Despite his brave words, he was attacked and severely beaten by five men in an alley. The attackers used a Coke bottle, which was a typical weapon for southern vigilantes. Peck lost consciousness within seconds and needed 53 stitches to close his exposed skull. Meanwhile, inside the station, the Klansmen violently assaulted the Freedom Riders and anyone else who tried to stop them, including a news photographer who arrived at the scene.
21
When reports of the bus burning and beatings reached the
U.S. Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy
, he urged restraint on the part of Freedom Riders and sent an assistant,
John Seigenthaler
, to Alabama to try to calm the situation.
26
Despite the violence suffered and the threat of more to come, the Freedom Riders intended to continue their journey. Kennedy had arranged an escort for the Riders in order to get them to
Montgomery, Alabama
, safely. However, radio reports told of a mob awaiting the riders at the bus terminal, as well as on the route to Montgomery. The Greyhound clerks told the Riders that their drivers were refusing to drive any Freedom Riders anywhere.
15
New Orleans
edit
Recognizing that their efforts had already called national attention to the civil rights cause and wanting to get to the rally in New Orleans, the Riders decided to abandon the rest of the bus ride and fly directly to New Orleans from Birmingham. When they first boarded the plane, all passengers had to exit because of a bomb threat.
15
Upon arriving in New Orleans, local tensions prevented normal accommodations—after which
Norman C. Francis
, president of
Xavier University of Louisiana
(XULA), decided to house them on campus in secret at St Michael's Hall, a dormitory.
27
Nashville Student Movement continuation
edit
Diane Nash
, a
Nashville
college student who was a leader of the
Nashville Student Movement
and
SNCC
, believed that if Southern violence were allowed to halt the Freedom Rides the movement would be set back years. She pushed to find replacements to resume the rides. On May 17, a new set of riders, 10 students from Nashville who were active in the Nashville Student Movement, took a bus to Birmingham, where they were arrested by Bull Connor and jailed.
22
The students kept their spirits up in jail by singing
freedom songs
. Out of frustration, Connor drove them back up to the
Tennessee
line and dropped them off, saying, "I just couldn't stand their singing."
28
They immediately returned to Birmingham.
Mob violence in Montgomery
edit
In answer to SNCC's call, Freedom Riders from across the Eastern US joined
John Lewis
and
Hank Thomas
, the two young SNCC members of the original Ride, who had remained in Birmingham. On May 19, they attempted to resume the ride, but, terrified by the howling mob surrounding the bus depot, the drivers refused. Harassed and besieged by the mob, the riders waited all night for a bus.
22
Under intense public pressure from the
Kennedy administration
, Greyhound was forced to provide a driver. After direct intervention by
Byron White
of the Attorney General's office, Alabama Governor
John Patterson
reluctantly promised to protect the bus from KKK mobs and snipers on the road between Birmingham and Montgomery.
29
On the morning of May 20, the Freedom Ride resumed, with the bus carrying the riders traveling toward Montgomery at 90 miles an hour, protected by a contingent of the
Alabama State Highway Patrol
The
Old Montgomery Greyhound Station
, site of the May 20, 1961 violence, is preserved as the
Freedom Rides Museum
(2011 photo)
The Highway Patrol abandoned the bus and riders at the Montgomery city limits. At the
Montgomery Greyhound station
on South Court Street, a white mob awaited. They beat the Freedom Riders with baseball bats and iron pipes. The local police allowed the beatings to go on uninterrupted.
22
Again, white Freedom Riders were singled out for particularly brutal beatings. Reporters and news photographers were attacked first and their cameras destroyed, but one reporter took a photo later of
Jim Zwerg
in the hospital, showing how he was beaten and bruised.
30
Seigenthaler, a Justice Department official, was beaten and left unconscious lying in the street. Ambulances refused to take the wounded to the hospital. Local black residents rescued them, and a number of the Freedom Riders were hospitalized.
On the following night, Sunday, May 21, more than 1,500 people packed into Reverend
Ralph Abernathy
's
First Baptist Church
to honor the Freedom Riders. Among the speakers were Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr.
, who had led the 1955–1956
Montgomery bus boycott
, Rev.
Fred Shuttlesworth
, and
James Farmer
. Outside, a mob of more than 3,000 white people attacked the black attendees, with a handful of the
United States Marshals Service
protecting the church from assault and fire bombs. With city and state police making no effort to restore order, the civil rights leaders appealed to the President for protection. President Kennedy threatened to intervene with federal troops if the governor would not protect the people. Governor Patterson forestalled that by finally ordering the
Alabama National Guard
to disperse the mob, and the Guard reached the church in the early morning.
22
Mugshot
of Miller G. Green when arrested for being a part of The Freedom Rides
In a commemorative Op-Ed piece in 2011,
Bernard Lafayette
remembered the mob breaking windows of the church with rocks and setting off tear gas canisters. He recounted heroic action by King. After learning that black taxi drivers were arming and forming a group to rescue the people inside, he worried that more violence would result. He selected ten volunteers, who promised non-violence, to escort him through the white mob, which parted to let King and his escorts pass as they marched two by two. King went out to the black drivers and asked them to disperse, to prevent more violence. King and his escorts formally made their way back inside the church, unmolested.
31
Lafayette also was interviewed by the BBC in 2011 and told about these events in an episode broadcast on the radio on August 31, 2011, in commemoration of the Freedom Rides. The Alabama National Guard finally arrived in the early morning to disperse the mob and safely escorted all the people from the church.
32
33
Into Mississippi
edit
George Raymond Jr.
was a CORE activist arrested in the Trailways bus terminal in Jackson, Mississippi, on August 14, 1961.
Some Freedom Riders were incarcerated in the
Mississippi State Penitentiary
The next day, Monday, May 22, more Freedom Riders arrived in Montgomery to continue the rides through the South and replace the wounded riders still in the hospital. Behind the scenes, the Kennedy administration arranged a deal with the governors of Alabama and Mississippi, where the governors agreed that state police and the National Guard would protect the Riders from mob violence. In return, the federal government would not intervene to stop local police from arresting Freedom Riders for violating segregation ordinances when the buses arrived at the depots.
22
On Wednesday morning, May 24, Freedom Riders boarded buses for the journey to
Jackson, Mississippi
34
Surrounded by Highway Patrol and the National Guard, the buses arrived in Jackson without incident, but the riders were immediately arrested when they tried to use the white-only facilities at the Tri-State Trailways depot.
35
The third bus arrived at the
Jackson Greyhound station
early on May 28, and its Freedom Riders were arrested.
36
37
In Montgomery, the next round of Freedom Riders, including the
Yale University
chaplain
William Sloane Coffin
, Gaylord Brewster Noyce,
38
and southern ministers Shuttlesworth, Abernathy,
Wyatt Tee Walker
, and others were similarly arrested for violating local segregation ordinances.
22
This established a pattern followed by subsequent Freedom Rides, most of which traveled to Jackson, where the Riders were arrested and jailed. Their strategy became one of trying to fill the jails. Once the Jackson and
Hinds County
jails were filled to overflowing, the state transferred the Freedom Riders to the infamous
Mississippi State Penitentiary
(known as Parchman Farm). Abusive treatment there included placement of Riders in the Maximum Security Unit (
Death Row
), issuance of only underwear, no exercise, and no mail privileges. When the Freedom Riders refused to stop singing freedom songs, prison officials took away their mattresses, sheets, and toothbrushes. More Freedom Riders arrived from across the country, and at one time, more than 300 were held in Parchman Farm.
15
Riders arrested in Jackson included
Stokeley Carmichael
(19), Catherine Burks (21),
Gloria Bouknight (20), Luvahgn Brown (16),
Margaret Leonard
(19), Helen O'Neal (20), Hank Thomas (20), Carol Silver (22), Hezekiah Watkins (13), Peter Stoner (22),
Byron Baer
(31), and LeRoy Glenn Wright (19) in addition to many more
10
39
Nashville Student Movement
leader
James Lawson
, who played a prominent role in coordinating the Freedom Rides, was among the first to be arrested in Jackson.
40
While in Jackson, Freedom Riders received support from local grassroots civil rights organization Womanpower Unlimited, which raised money and collected toiletries, soap, candy and magazines for the imprisoned protesters. Upon Freedom Riders' release, Womanpower members would provide places for them to bathe while offering them clothes and food. Founded by
Clarie Collins Harvey
, the group was considered instrumental in the success of the Freedom Riders.
41
Freedom Rider
Joan Trumpauer Mulholland
said the Womanpower members "were like angels supplying us with just little simple necessities."
42
Kennedy urges "cooling off period"
edit
The Kennedys called for a "cooling off period" and condemned the Rides as unpatriotic because they embarrassed the nation on the world stage at the height of the
Cold War
James Farmer
, head of CORE, responded to Kennedy saying, "We have been cooling off for 350 years, and if we cooled off any more, we'd be in a deep freeze."
43
The
Soviet Union
criticized the United States for its racism and the attacks on the Riders.
16
44
Nonetheless, international outrage about the widely covered events and racial violence created pressure on American political leaders. On May 29, 1961, Attorney General Kennedy sent a petition to the
Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC) asking it to comply with the bus-desegregation ruling it had issued in November 1955, in
Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company
. That ruling had explicitly repudiated the concept of "
separate but equal
" in the realm of interstate bus travel. Chaired by
South Carolina Democrat
J. Monroe Johnson, the ICC had failed to implement its own ruling.
Summer escalation
edit
Activists
Patricia Stephens
and Reverend Petty D. McKinney arrested in
Tallahassee, Florida
, on June 16, 1961.
CORE, SNCC, and the
SCLC
rejected any "cooling off period". They formed a Freedom Riders Coordinating Committee to keep the Rides rolling through June, July, August, and September.
22
During those months, more than 60 different Freedom Rides criss-crossed the South,
45
most of them converging on Jackson, where every Rider was arrested, more than 300 in total. An unknown number were arrested in other Southern towns. It is estimated that almost 450 people participated in one or more Freedom Rides. About 75% were male, and the same percentage were under the age of 30, with about equal participation from black and white citizens.
During the summer of 1961, Freedom Riders also campaigned against other forms of
racial discrimination
. They sat together in segregated restaurants, lunch counters and hotels. This was especially effective when they targeted large companies, such as hotel chains. Fearing boycotts in the North, the hotels began to desegregate their businesses.
Tallahassee
edit
In mid-June, a group of Freedom Riders had scheduled to end their ride in
Tallahassee, Florida
, with plans to fly home from the
Tallahassee Municipal Airport
. They were provided a police escort to the airport from the city's bus facilities. At the airport, they decided to eat at the
Savarin
restaurant that was marked "For Whites Only".
46
The owners decided to close rather than serve the mixed group of Freedom Riders. Although the restaurant was privately owned, it was leased from the county government. Canceling their plane reservations, the Riders decided to wait until the restaurant re-opened so they could be served. They waited until 11:00 pm that night and returned the following day. During this time, hostile crowds gathered, threatening violence. On June 16, 1961, the Freedom Riders were arrested in Tallahassee for unlawful assembly.
47
That arrest and subsequent trial became known as
Dresner v. City of Tallahassee,
named for
Israel S. Dresner
, a rabbi among the group arrested.
48
The Riders were convicted of unlawful assembly by the Municipal Court of Tallahassee, and the convictions were affirmed in the
Florida Circuit Court
of the Second Judicial District.
42
The convictions were appealed to the
US Supreme Court
in 1963, which refused to hear the case based on jurisdictional reasons.
49
In 1964, the
Tallahassee 10
protesters returned to the city to serve brief jail sentences.
46
Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas
edit
Demonstrator Annie Lumpkin at the city jail in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas, 1961
Freedom Riders Janet Reinitz and Bliss Anne Malone, seated in the Trailways bus terminal in the 'white' intrastate waiting room in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas, 1961
Demonstrators Janet Reinitz and Rev. Benjamin Elton Cox at the city jail in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas, 1961
In July 1961, Freedom Riders arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas. The group went to the Trailways bus terminal and entered the 'white' intrastate waiting room
50
. They were arrested by local police for breach of the peace
51
. Although they were convicted and fined, the riders were released after agreeing to leave Arkansas
52
Monroe, North Carolina, and Robert F. Williams
edit
Demonstrator Bliss Anne Malone at the city jail in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas, 1961
In early August, SNCC staff members
James Forman
and Paul Brooks, with the support of
Ella Baker
, began planning a Freedom Ride in solidarity with
Robert F. Williams
. Williams was an extremely militant and controversial NAACP chapter president for
Monroe
, North Carolina. After making the public statement that he would "meet violence with violence," (since the federal government would not protect his community from racial attacks) he had been suspended by the NAACP national board over the objections of Williams' local membership. Williams continued his work against segregation however, but now had massive opposition in both black and white communities.
citation needed
He was also facing repeated attempts on his life because of it. Some SNCC staff members sympathized with the idea of armed self-defense, although many on the ride to Monroe saw this as an opportunity to prove the superiority of Gandhian nonviolence over the use of force.
53
Forman was among those who were still supportive of Williams.
citation needed
Freedom Rider Bliss Anne Malone being arrested by Police Chief Bob Glasscock at the Trailways bus terminal in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas, 1961
The Freedom Riders in Monroe were brutally attacked by white supremacists with the approval of local police. On August 27, James Forman – SNCC's Executive Secretary – was struck unconscious with the butt of a rifle and taken to jail with numerous other demonstrators. Police and white supremacists roamed the town shooting at black civilians, who returned the gunfire. Robert F. Williams fortified the black neighborhood against attack and in the process briefly detained a white couple who had gotten lost there. The police accused Williams of kidnapping and called in the state militia and FBI to arrest him, in spite of the couple being quickly released. Certain he would be lynched, Williams fled and eventually found refuge in
Cuba
. Movement lawyers, eager to disengage from the situation, successfully urged the Freedom Riders not to practice the normal "jail-no bail" strategy in Monroe. Local officials, also apparently eager to de-escalate, found demonstrators guilty but immediately suspended their sentences.
54
One Freedom Rider however, John Lowry, went on trial for the kidnapping case, along with several associates of Robert F. Williams, including
Mae Mallory
. Monroe legal defense committees were popular around the country, but ultimately Lowry and Mallory served prison sentences. In 1965, their convictions were vacated due to the exclusion of black citizens from the jury selection.
55
56
Tri-State Trailways depot, Jackson, Miss. (1940s Postcard)
Jackson, Mississippi, and
Pierson v. Ray
edit
On September 13, 1961, a group of 15
Episcopal
priests, including three black priests and twelve white priests, entered the
Jackson, Mississippi
Trailways
bus terminal. Upon entering the coffee shop, they were stopped by two policemen, who asked them to leave. After refusing to leave, all 15 were arrested and jailed for
breach of peace
, under a now-repealed section of the
Mississippi code
§ 2087.5 that "makes guilty of a misdemeanor anyone who congregates with others in a public place under circumstances such that a breach of the peace may be occasioned thereby, and refuses to move on when ordered to do so by a police officer."
The group included 35-year-old
Reverend Robert L Pierson
. After the case against the priests was dismissed on May 21, 1962, they sought damages against the police under the
Civil Rights Act of 1871
. Their claims were ultimately rejected in the
United States Supreme Court
case
Pierson v. Ray
(1967), which held that the police were protected by a new court-created legal doctrine,
qualified immunity
57
Resolution and legacy
edit
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needs additional citations for
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By September it had been more than three months since the filing of the petition by Robert Kennedy. CORE and SNCC leaders made tentative plans for a mass demonstration known as the "Washington Project". This would mobilize hundreds, perhaps thousands, of nonviolent demonstrators to the capital city to apply pressure on the ICC and the Kennedy administration. The idea was pre-empted when the ICC finally issued the necessary orders just before the end of the month.
58
The new policies went into effect on November 1, 1961, six years after the ruling in
Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company
. After the new ICC rule took effect, passengers were permitted to sit wherever they pleased on interstate buses and trains; "white" and "colored" signs were removed from the terminals; racially-segregated drinking fountains, toilets, and waiting rooms serving interstate customers were consolidated; and the lunch counters began serving all customers, regardless of race.
The widespread violence in response to the Freedom Rides sent shock waves through American society. People were worried that the Rides were evoking widespread social disorder and racial divergence, an opinion supported and strengthened in many communities by the press. The press in white communities condemned the
direct action
approach that CORE was taking, while some of the national press negatively portrayed the Riders as provoking unrest.
At the same time, the Freedom Rides established great credibility with black and white people throughout the United States and inspired many to engage in direct action for civil rights. Perhaps most significantly, the actions of the Freedom Riders from the North, who faced danger on behalf of southern black citizens, impressed and inspired the many black people living in
rural
areas throughout the South. They formed the backbone of the wider civil rights movement, engaging in
voter registration
and other activities. Southern black activists generally organized around their churches, the center of their communities and a base of moral strength.
The Freedom Riders helped inspire participation in subsequent civil rights campaigns, including voter registration throughout the South,
freedom schools
, and the
Black Power movement
. At the time, most black Southerners had been unable to register to vote, due to state constitutions, laws and practices that had effectively
disfranchised
them since the turn of the 20th century. For instance, white administrators supervised reading comprehension and literacy tests that even highly educated black people could not pass.
In Australia, the American Freedom Riders inspired the 1965
Freedom Ride in New South Wales
. This event brought attention to the significant social and legal discrimination against
Aboriginal Australians
in regional, rural and remote areas of
New South Wales
, including segregation from public facilities and private businesses.
List of Freedom Rides
edit
Precursors to Freedom Rides
edit
Washington, DC, Greyhound terminal. Northern starting point for several early Freedom Rides
Washington DC Trailways terminal c. 1965 showing a GM PD-4104 "Highway Traveler" bus, such as depicted in Anniston, LA attack on riders
Ride
Date
Carrier
Point of departure
Destination
Ref.
Note
Journey of Reconciliation
April 9–23, 1947
Trailways
and
Greyhound
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
59
note 1
Little Freedom Ride
April 22, 1961
East St. Louis, Illinois
Sikeston, Missouri
61
note 2
Original and subsequent Freedom Rides
edit
Atlanta, GA, Greyhound Bus Station and Restaurant, c. 1940
Birmingham, AL, Greyhound Bus Station, c. 1950
Atlanta's Terminal Station, origin of a Freedom Ride on the
Central of Georgia Railway
(postcard view, c. 1949)
Denotes location a Freedom Rider tested the compliance of the
Boynton v. Virginia
(1960) decision at a terminal facility only
Ride
Date
Carrier or terminal
Point of departure
Destination
Ref.
Note
Original CORE Freedom Ride
May 4–17, 1961
Trailways
Washington, D.C.
New Orleans, Louisiana
64
note 2
Greyhound
Washington, D.C.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Nashville Student Movement
Freedom Ride
May 17–21, 1961
Birmingham, Alabama
New Orleans, Louisiana
65
note 3
Connecticut Freedom Ride
May 24–25, 1961
Greyhound
Atlanta, Georgia
Montgomery, Alabama
66
note 4
Interfaith Freedom Ride
June 13–16, 1961
Greyhound
Washington, D.C.
Tallahassee, Florida
67
note 5
Organized Labor–Professional Freedom Ride
June 13–16, 1961
Washington, D.C.
St. Petersburg, Florida
69
note 6
Missouri to Louisiana CORE Freedom Ride
July 8–15, 1961
St. Louis, Missouri
New Orleans, Louisiana
71
note 7
New Jersey to Arkansas CORE Freedom Ride
July 13–24, 1961
Newark, New Jersey
Little Rock, Arkansas
73
note 8
Los Angeles to Houston Freedom Ride
August 9–11, 1961
Union Railway Station
Los Angeles, California
Houston, Texas
74
note 9
Monroe Freedom Ride
August 17–September 1, 1961
Monroe, North Carolina
75
note 10
Prayer Pilgrimage Freedom Ride
September 13, 1961
Trailways
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
77
note 11
Albany Freedom Rides
November 1, 1961
Trailways
(terminal only)
Atlanta, Georgia
80
note 12
Trailways
Atlanta, Georgia
Albany, Georgia
80
note 13
November 22, 1961
Trailways
(terminal only)
Albany, Georgia
81
note 14
December 10, 1961
Central of Georgia Railway
Atlanta Terminal Station
Albany, Georgia (Union Station)
82
note 15
McComb Freedom Rides
November 29, 1961
Greyhound
New Orleans, Louisiana
McComb, Mississippi
81
note 16
December 1, 1961
Greyhound
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
McComb, Mississippi
86
note 17
December 2, 1961
Greyhound
Jackson, Mississippi
McComb, Mississippi
87
note 18
Mississippi Freedom Rides
edit
Preserved Greyhound Station, Jackson, Mississippi
Bus Depot, Nashville, Tennessee c. 1940
New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
Union Station (Jackson, Mississippi)
Denotes location a Freedom Rider tested the compliance of the
Boynton v. Virginia
(1960) decision at a terminal facility only
Date
Carrier or terminal
Point of departure
Destination
Ref.
Note
May 24, 1961
Trailways
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
88
note 19
Greyhound
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
90
note 20
May 28, 1961
Greyhound
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
92
note 21
Trailways
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
93
note 22
May 30, 1961
Illinois Central Railroad
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
94
note 23
June 2, 1961
Trailways (#1)
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
95
note 24
Trailways (#2)
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
96
note 25
June 6, 1961
Trailways
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
98
note 26
June 7, 1961
Trailways
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
99
note 27
Greyhound Bus Station
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
101
note 28
Hawkins Field
(airport)
St. Louis, Missouri
Jackson, Mississippi
101
note 29
June 8, 1961
Illinois Central Railroad
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
102
note 30
Hawkins Field
(airport)
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
101
note 31
June 9, 1961
Illinois Central Railroad
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
104
note 32
June 10, 1961
Greyhound
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
105
note 33
June 11, 1961
Greyhound
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
106
note 34
June 16, 1961
Greyhound
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
108
note 35
June 19, 1961
Greyhound Bus Station
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
108
note 36
June 20, 1961
Illinois Central Railroad
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
109
note 37
June 21, 1961
Trailways
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
110
note 38
June 23, 1961
Tri-State Trailways station
111
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
112
note 39
June 25, 1961
Illinois Central Railroad
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
113
note 40
July 2, 1961
Trailways
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
116
note 41
July 5, 1961
Tri-State Trailways station
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
117
note 42
July 6, 1961
Jackson Union Station
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
119
note 43
Greyhound Bus Station
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
120
note 44
July 7, 1961
Jackson Union Station
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
123
note 45
Trailways
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
124
note 46
July 9, 1961
Trailways
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
125
note 47
Illinois Central Railroad
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
123
note 48
Tri-State Trailways station
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
125
note 49
July 15, 1961
Greyhound
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
130
note 50
July 16, 1961
Greyhound
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
131
note 51
July 21, 1961
Hawkins Field
(airport terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
132
note 52
Greyhound
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
134
note 53
July 23, 1961
Trailways
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
135
note 54
July 24, 1961
Hawkins Field
(airport)
Montgomery, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
136
note 55
July 29, 1961
Greyhound
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
138
note 56
July 30, 1961
Illinois Central Railroad
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
139
note 57
July 31, 1961
Greyhound Bus Station
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
140
note 58
August 5, 1961
Trailways
(bus and terminal)
Nashville, Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi
141
note 59
August 13, 1961
Tri-State Trailways station
(terminal only)
Jackson, Mississippi
142
note 60
Commemorations and monument
edit
Freedom Riders plaque in Birmingham, Alabama
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides,
Oprah Winfrey
invited all living Freedom Riders to join her TV program to celebrate their legacy. The episode aired on May 4, 2011.
143
On May 6–16, 2011, 40 college students from across the United States embarked on a bus ride from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, retracing the original route of the Freedom Riders.
15
The 2011 Student Freedom Ride, which was sponsored by PBS and
American Experience
, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the original Freedom Rides. Students met with civil rights leaders along the way and traveled with original Freedom Riders such as Ernest "Rip" Patton, Joan Mulholland, Bob Singleton, Helen Singleton, Jim Zwerg, and Charles Person. On May 16, 2011, PBS aired a documentary called
Freedom Riders
On May 19–21, 2011, the Freedom Rides were commemorated in Montgomery, Alabama, at the new
Freedom Rides Museum
in the old Greyhound Bus terminal, where some of the violence had taken place in 1961. On May 22–26, 2011, the arrival of the Freedom Rides in Jackson, Mississippi was commemorated with a 50th Anniversary Reunion and Conference in the city.
144
During commemorative events in February 2013 in Montgomery, Congressman
John Lewis
accepted the apologies of Chief Kevin Murphy of the
Montgomery Police Department
; Murphy gave Lewis his own badge, off his uniform, moving Lewis to tears.
145
In late 2011, Palestinian activists, inspired by the Freedom Riders, used the same methods in Israel by boarding a bus from which they were excluded.
146
147
148
In January, 2017, President Barack Obama declared the Anniston, Alabama bus station the
Freedom Riders National Monument
Cultural depictions
edit
The 1980s
PBS
documentary series
Eyes on the Prize
had an episode, "Ain't Scared of Your Jails: 1960-1961", that gave attention to the Freedom Riders. It included an interview with James Farmer.
149
The title of the 2007 film
Freedom Writers
is an explicit pun on the Freedom Riders, a fact made clear in the film itself, which references the campaign.
PBS in 2012 broadcast
Freedom Riders
as part of its
American Experience
series. It included interviews and news footage from the Freedom Riders movement.
150
Dan Shore
's 2013 opera
Freedom Ride
, set in New Orleans, celebrates the Freedom Riders.
151
The Boondocks
aired a 2014 episode about the Freedom Rides with the title "Freedom Ride or Die".
The Freedom Riders: The Civil Rights Musical
is a
theater musical
retelling the story of the Freedom Rides.
152
The musical was created by Los Angeles screenwriter/director Richard Allen, and San Diego native music artist Taran Gray. Richard and Taran finalized the music in March 2016, and by April of the same year were asked to perform excerpts from their musical as a BETA Event at the
New York Musical Festival
(NYMF).
153
The FREEDOM RIDERS musical received NYMF's inaugural BETA Event Award,
154
and is scheduled to return to New York, summer of 2017, for an
Off-Broadway
run as part of NYMF's festival.
155
Notable Freedom Riders
edit
Zev Aelony
James Bevel
Albert Bigelow
Malcolm Boyd
156
157
Amos C. Brown
158
Gordon Carey
159
Stokely Carmichael
William Sloane Coffin
160
Benjamin Elton Cox
161
Israel S. Dresner
James Farmer
Bob Filner
James Forman
Tom Hayden
Mary Hamilton
William E. Harbour
Genevieve Hughes
Bernard Lafayette
James Lawson
Frederick Leonard
Margaret Burr Leonard
John Lewis
162
Robert Martinson
Salynn McCollum
Charles McDew
163
Winonah Myers
164
Diane Nash
Wally Nelson
James Peck
Charles Person
Robert Laughlin Pierson
John Curtis Raines
Cordell Reagon
Meryle Joy Reagon
Charles Grier Sellers
165
Charles Sherrod
Fred Shuttlesworth
166
Carol Ruth Silver
Helen Singleton
George Bundy Smith
Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson
Peter Sterling
167
Daniel N. Stern
Hank Thomas
Joan Trumpauer Mulholland
C. T. Vivian
Wyatt Tee Walker
James Zwerg
Janet Braun-Reinitz
See also
edit
The Freedom Rider
, a 1964 album by
Art Blakey
and the
Jazz Messengers
, named in honor of the Freedom Riders
He Was My Brother
", a 1964
Simon & Garfunkel
song about the Freedom Riders
Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders
, a 2008 book by Eric Etheridge
Redlining
Reverse freedom rides
George Lincoln Rockwell Hate Bus
Freedom Ride (Australia)
Notes
edit
Included 16 participants – Louis Adams, Dennis Banks,
Ernest Bromley
Joseph Felmet
George Houser
Homer A. Jack
, Andrew S. Johnson,
Conrad Lynn
Wally Nelson
James Peck
, Worth Randle,
Igal Roodenko
Bayard Rustin
, Eugene Stanley,
William Worthy
and Nathan Wright.
60
Included 18 participants – Frances Bergman, Walter Bergman,
62
Albert Bigelow
Ed Blankenheim
Benjamin Elton Cox
63
James Farmer
, Robert G. (Gus) Griffin, Herman K. Harris,
Genevieve Hughes
John Lewis
, Jimmy McDonald, Ivor (Jerry) Moore, Mae Frances Moultrie,
James Peck
, Joseph Perkins,
Charles Person
, Isaac (Ike) Reynolds and
Hank Thomas
Included 23 participants – William Barbee,
James Bevel
, Paul Brooks,
Catherine Burks-Brooks
, Carl Bush, Charles Butler, Joseph Carter, Allen Cason Jr., Lucretia Collins, Rudolph Graham,
William E. Harbour
, Susan Hermann, Patricia Jenkins,
Bernard Lafayette
Frederick Leonard
John Lewis
Salynn McCollum
, William B. Mitchell Jr., Etta Simpson,
Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson
, Susan Wilbur, Clarence M. Wright and
James Zwerg
Included 7 participants – Clyde Carter,
William Sloane Coffin
, Joseph Charles Jones, John Maguire, Gaylord Noyce,
George B. Smith
and David E. Swift.
Included 18 participants – C. Donald Alstork,
Robert McAfee Brown
, John Collier,
Israel S. Dresner
, Malcolm Evans, Martin Freedman,
Arthur L. Hardge
, Wayne "Chris" Clyde Hartmire Jr., George Leake, Allan Levine, Petty McKinney, Walter Plaut,
68
Henry Proctor,
Ralph Lord Roy
, Perry A. Smith III, Robert J. Stone, A. McRaven (Mack) Warner and Edward White.
Included 14 participants – Jerald Bobrow, Herbert Callender,
70
Ralph Diamond, Joyce Lebowitz, Sheree Massaquoi, Edward Morton, Gordon Negen, James O'Connor, Francis Randall, Laura Randall, Leslie Smith,
Daniel N. Stern
, Dupree White and Benny Winston.
Included 5 participants –
Benjamin Elton Cox
, Annie Lumpkin, Bliss Anne Malone,
John Curtis Raines
and
Janet Reinitz
72
Included 5 participants – John C. Harvard, Sidney Shanken, Woollcott Smith, Herman (Chaim) S. Stern and
Hank Thomas
Included 18 participants – Charles Berrard, Marjorie Dunson, Robert Farrell, Herbert Hamilton, Willie Handy,
Holly Hogrobrooks
, John Hutchins, Eddie Jones, Robert E. Jones, Robert Paul Kaufman, Ellen Kleinman, Pat Kovner, Ronald La Bostrie, Steven McNichols, Marian Moody, Beverly Radcliffe, Steven Sanfield and Joseph McClendon Stevenson.
Included 19 participants – Robert M. Baum, Edward J. Bromberg, Paul Brooks, Charles Butler, Price Chatham, Paul David Dietrich,
James Forman
, Richard P. Griswold, Larry Fred Hunter, Edward W. Kale,
Frederick Leonard
, John Lowry, William Carl Mahoney, Joseph John Michael McDonald, David Kerr Morton, Heath Cliff Rush, Kenneth Martin Shilman, Daniel Ray Thompson and LeRoy Glenn Wright.
76
Included 15 participants – Gilbert S. Avery III, Myron B. Bloy Jr.,
James Pleasant Breeden
, John Crocker Jr.,
78
James Walker Evans, John Marvin Evans, Quinland Reeves Gordon, James Garrard Jones, John Burnett Morris,
Robert Laughlin Pierson
, Geoffrey Sedgewick Simpson, Robert Page Taylor, William Adrew Wendt,
79
Vernon P. Woodward and Merrill Orne Young.
Included 4 participants –
James Bevel
James Forman
, Joseph Charles Jones and
Bernard Lafayette
Included 3 participants –
Salynn McCollum
Cordell Reagon
and
Charles Sherrod
Included 5 participants – Julian Carswell, Bertha Gober, Blanton Hall, Evelyn Toney and Eddie Wilson.
Included 9 participants – Joan Browning, Norma F. Collins,
James Forman
, Sandra Cason "Casey" Hayden,
83
Tom Hayden
, Per Laursen,
Bernard Lee
, Lenora Taitt and Robert Zellner.
Included 5 participants –
George Raymond Jr.
, Doratha Smith, Jerome H. Smith, Alice Thompson
84
and Thomas Valentine.
85
Included 6 participants – Willie Bradford, Thomas Peete,
George Raymond Jr.
, Claude Reese, Patricia Tate and Jean Thompson.
Included 5 participants – James Burnham, Jerome Byrd, MacArthur Cotton, Thomas Gaither and Joe Lewis.
Included 12 participants – Julia Aaron, Alexander M. Anderson, Harold Andrews,
James Bevel
, Joseph Carter,
Dave Dennis
, Paul David Dietrich,
Bernard Lafayette
James Lawson
, Jean Catherine Thompson,
C. T. Vivian
, Matthew Walker Jr.
89
Included 15 participants – Peter M. Ackerberg,
Doris Castle
, Lucretia R. Collins, John Lee Copeland,
Dion Tyrone Diamond
91
Grady H. Donald,
James Farmer
Frank George Holloway
John Lewis
, John H. Moody Jr., Ernest (Rip) Patton Jr., Jerome H. Smith, Clarence Lloyd Thomas,
Hank Thomas
and LeRoy Glenn Wright.
76
Included 9 participants –
Catherine Burks-Brooks
William E. Harbour
Frederick Leonard
, Lester G. McKinnie, William B. Mitchell Jr., Etta Simpson, Mary J. Smith, Frances L. Wilson and Clarence M. Wright.
Included 8 participants – Allen Cason Jr., Albert Lee Dunn, David B. Fankhauser, Franklin W. Hunt, Larry Fred Hunter, Pauline Edythe Knight, William Carl Mahoney and Charles David Myers.
Included 8 participants – James Keet Davis Jr., Glenda Jean Gaither, Paul S. Green, Joe Henry Griffith,
Charles Haynie
, Robert Lawrence Heller, Sandra Marie Nixon and Peter Sterling.
Included 6 participants – Charles Butler, Price Chatham, Joseph John Michael McDonald,
Meryle Joy Reagon
, Kenneth Martin Shilman and
Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson
Included 8 participants – Ralph Fertig,
97
Richard LeRoy Gleason, Jesse J. Harris,
Cordell Reagon
, Carolyn Yvonne Reed, Felix Jacques Singer, Leslie Word and Elizabeth Porter Wyckoff.
Included 7 participants – Johnny Frank Ashford, Abraham Bassfordt, James Thomas McDonough, Terry John Sullivan, Shirley Thompson, James Robert Wahlstrom and Ernest Newell Weber.
Included 6 participants –
John Gager
, Reginald Malcolm Green,
100
Edward W. Kale, Raymond B. Randolph Jr.,
Carol Ruth Silver
and Obadiah Lee Simms.
Included 1 participant –
Michael Audain
Included 3 participants – Gwendolyn C. Jenkins, Robert L. Jenkins and Ralph Edward Washington.
Included 9 participants – Travis O. Britt,
Stokely Carmichael
Gwendolyn T. Greene
, Teri Susan Perlman, Jane Ellen Rosett, Jan Leighton Triggs,
Joan Harris Trumpauer
, Robert Wesby
103
and Helene Dorothy Wilson.
Included 2 participants –
Mark Lane
and
Percy Sutton
Included 5 participants –
Margaret Winonah Beamer
, Edward J. Bromberg, Patricia Elaine Bryant, Del Greenblatt and Heath Cliff Rush.
Included 6 participants – Leora Berman, Stephen John Green, Richard P. Giswold, Leon Daniel Horne, Katherine Pleune and Lowell A. Woods Jr.
Included 7 participants –
Zev Aelony
, Robert M. Baum, Marvin Allen Davidov, David Kerr Morton, Claire O'Connor,
107
Daniel Ray Thompson and Eugine John Uphoff.
Included 5 participants – Elizabeth S. Adler,
Bob Filner
, Elizabeth Slade Hirschfeld, Karen Elizabeth Kytle and Leon N. Rice.
Included 1 participant – Eugene Levine.
Included 13 participants – Rita J. Carter, Margaret Ann Kerr,
Robert Martinson
, Paul Duncan McConnell, Frederick Dean Muntean, Grant Harland Muse Jr., Lestra Alene Peterson,
Joan Pleune
, Joseph Marion Pratt, Jorgia B. Yvonne Siegel, Buren Lewis Teale, Lawrence Triss Jr. and Thomas Van Roland.
Included 9 participants – Miriam (Mimi) Feingold, Judith Ann Frieze, Margaret Burr Leonard, Samuel Timothy Nash,
Henry Schwarzschild
, Leon Felton Smith Jr., Theresa Edwards Walker,
Wyatt Tee Walker
and Melvin Lorenzo White.
Included 4 participants – Thomas Madison Armstrong III, Mary Magdalene Harrison, Elnora R. Price and Joseph Lee Ross.
Included 20 participants – George Marion Blevins, Gloria Leevare-Dee Bouknight, Arthur Brooks Jr., John Luther Dolan,
Mary Lucille Hamilton
114
115
Gordon Lau Harris, Louise Jean Inghram, Frank Johnson, Marian Alice Kendall, Norma Libson, Claude Albert Liggins, Eddora Mae Manning, Robert William Mason, Fank Arthur Nelson, Janice Louise Rogers, John Copeland Rogers, Marica Arlene Rosenbaum, Wayne Leslie Taylor, Richard Thorne and Claire Drew Toombs.
Included 5 participants – Barbara Jane Kay, Robert Allen Miller, Michael Leon Pritchard, Peter Harry Stoner and Leotis Thornton.
Included 9 participants – Robert Earl Bass, Ralph Floyd, Eugene Lee, Marshall Bennett, Miller G. Green Jr., Robert Lee Green, Jesse L. Harris,
118
Percy Lee Johnson and James Wilson Jones.
Included 6 participants – Frank Caston, Frankie Lee Griffin, Alpha Zara Palmer, West Davis Phillips, Tommie Watts Jr. and Mack Charles Wells.
Included 6 participants – Alfonzo Denson Jr., Samuel Givens, Landy McNair Jr., Earl Vance Jr., Hezekiah Watkins
121
122
and Paul Edward Young.
Included 1 participant – Morton Bruce Slater.
Included 8 participants – Charles Biggers, Elmer L. Brown, William Walter Hansen Jr., John Lowry, Norma Matzkin, Isaac (Ike) Reynolds Jr., Daniel Stevens and Willie James Thomas.
Included 8 participants – Daniel E. Bukholder, Lionel Goldbart,
126
Albert Forrest Gordon, Stephen Greenstein, Jeanne H. Herrick, Saul Bernard Manfield, Ralph Robert Rogers and Lula Mae White.
127
128
Included 9 participants – Patricia Dale Baskerville, Larry Bell, Tommie Eldridge Brashear, Edmond Dalbert Jr., Reginald Jackson, Edward B. Johnson, Philip Jonathan Perkins, Roena Rand and John Charles Taylor Jr.
129
Included 11 participants – Leo Vone Blue, Mildred Juanita Blue, Fred Douglas Clark,
122
Jessie James Davis, Gainnel Hayes, Andrew Horne Jr., Erma Lee Horne, Delores Williams Lynch, Henry Rosell, Oneal Vance and Joe Watts Jr.
Included 12 participants – Carroll Gary Barber, Charles Henry Booth, Ray Allen Cooper, Marilyn Irene Eisenberg, Robert Lewis Owens, Jean Estil Kidwell Pestana, David Lering Richards, Rose Schorr Rosenberg, Leon Russ Jr., Leo Vernon Washington, Douglas Albert Williams and Jack Mikhail Wolfson.
Included 8 participants – James Emerson Dennis, Mary Freelon, Phillip Jay Havey, Rudolph Mitaritonna, Shirley B. Smith, Willard Hooker Svanoe, James Edward Warren and Lewis Richard Zuchman.
Included 9 participants – James T. Carey, Francis L. Geddes, Joseph Henry Gumbiner,
133
Mary Jorgensen, Russell F. Jorgensen, Allan Levine, Orville B. Luster,
Charles G. Sellers
and John R. Washington.
Included 4 participants – Paul Breines, Donna Sage Garde, Joel Ben Greenberg and Ruth Esther Moskowitz.
Included 7 participants – Albert Roy Huddleston, Margaret Ihra, Candida Lall, Morton G. Linder, Michael Harry Powell, Alexander Weiss and Ralph Alan Williams.
Included 4 participants – Alphonso Kelly Petway, Kredelle Petway, Matthew Petway and Cecil A. Thomas.
137
Included 10 participants –
Byron Baer
, Hilmar Ehrenfreid Pabel, Catherine Jo Prensky,
Sally Rowley
, Judith Norene Scroggins, Rick Stanley Sheviakov, Woollcott Smith, Widijonaiko Tjokroadisunatto, Norma Wagner and Ellen Lee Ziskind.
Included 15 participants – Albert Barough, Winston Fuller, Joseph Edward Gerbac, Michael Grubbs, Alan Kaufman, William Leons, Herbert S. Mann, Max Gregory Pavesic, Philip M. Posner,
Helen Singleton
Robert Singleton
, Richard C. Steward, Lonnie Thurman, Sam Joe Townsend and Tanya Wren.
Included 1 participant – James Robert Wahlstrom.
Included 2 participants – Earl C. Bohannon and Norma Wagner.
Included 2 participants –
George Raymond Jr.
and Pauline K. Sims.
References
edit
Arsenault 2006
, pp. 533–587.
Upchurch
, p. 14.
328
U.S.
373
(1946); also
Morgan v. Virginia
. Law.cornell.edu.
Archived
from the original on February 17, 2012
. Retrieved
December 12,
2011
"The Freedom Rides"
. Congress of Racial Equality.
Archived
from the original on July 10, 2013
. Retrieved
March 20,
2011
"1961 Freedom Rides Map"
Archived
2018-03-11 at the
Wayback Machine
, Library of Congress
Catsam
, pp. 63–67.
"Journey of Reconciliation"
Spartacus Educational
Archived
from the original on July 15, 2017
. Retrieved
June 26,
2018
"Meet the Players: Freedom Riders | American Experience"
www.pbs.org
. Retrieved
July 30,
2020
Taylor, Derrick Bryson (July 18, 2020).
"Who Were the Freedom Riders?"
The New York Times
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
July 30,
2020
Berger, Maurice (May 15, 2018).
"50 Years After Their Mug Shots, Portraits of Mississippi's Freedom Riders"
The New York Times
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
July 30,
2020
"The Freedom Riders, Then and Now"
Smithsonian Magazine
. Retrieved
July 30,
2020
Garrow, David J. (2006). Arsenault, Raymond (ed.).
"Down the Highway to Freedom"
The Wilson Quarterly
30
(2):
103–
104.
ISSN
0363-3276
JSTOR
40261085
Martin, Michael T. (2011).
'Buses Are a Comin'. Oh Yeah!': Stanley Nelson on Freedom Riders"
Black Camera
(1):
96–
122.
doi
10.2979/blackcamera.3.1.96
ISSN
1947-4237
S2CID
144287581
"Civil Rights Rider Keeps Fight Alive"
Star-News
. June 30, 1983. p. 4A
. Retrieved
April 10,
2010
permanent dead link
'Freedom Riders,' WGBH American Experience"
. PBS.
Archived
from the original on December 24, 2011
. Retrieved
December 12,
2011
Gross, Terry (January 12, 2006).
"Get On the Bus: The Freedom Riders of 1961"
NPR
Archived
from the original on April 17, 2008
. Retrieved
July 30,
2008
Photo of a Greyhound bus firebombed by a mob in Anniston, Alabama
Archived
June 15, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
Branch
, pp. 412–450.
"Anniston Memorial Hospital Marker – Historic Markers Across Alabama"
www.lat34north.com
. Archived from
the original
on October 17, 2018
. Retrieved
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"With the police holding back the jeering crowd, and with the deacons openly displaying their weapons, the weary but relieved Riders piled into the cars, which promptly drove off into the gathering dusk. 'We walked right between those Ku Klux,' Buck Johnson later recalled. 'Some of them had clubs. There were some deputies too. You couldn't tell the deputies from the Ku Klux.'
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Missing or empty
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help
"Fred Shuttlesworth with Freedom Riders after their arrival at the Greyhound station in Birmingham, Alabama. :: Alabama Media Group Collection"
(New Photo with Annotations)
digital.archives.alabama.gov
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2019
John Lewis is walking behind him on the right.
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OCLC
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crdl.usg.edu
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on October 29, 2019
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Bibliography
edit
Arsenault, Raymond
(2006).
Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
9780199755813
- Article on the book:
Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice
Branch, Taylor
(2007).
Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954–63
. Simon and Schuster.
ISBN
9781416558682
Forman, James
(1972).
The Making of Black Revolutionaries
. University of Washington Press.
ISBN
9780295976594
Morgenroth, Florence (1966).
Organization and Activities of the American Civil Liberties Union in Miami, 1955–1966
(M.A. thesis). University of Miami.
OCLC
15796239
Morris, Tiyi (2015).
Womanpower Unlimited and the Black Freedom Struggle in Mississippi
. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press.
ISBN
978-0-8203-4731-8
Tyson, Timothy B.
(2001).
Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power
. University of North Carolina Press.
ISBN
9780807849231
Upchurch, Thomas Adams (2008).
Race Relations in the United States, 1960–1980
. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
ISBN
9780313341717
Further reading
edit
Scholarly works
edit
Barnes, Catherine A. (1983).
Journey from Jim Crow: The Desegregation of Southern Transit
. Columbia University Press.
ISBN
9780231053808
Catsam, Derek (2009).
Freedom's Main Line: The Journey of Reconciliation and the Freedom Rides
. University Press of Kentucky.
ISBN
9780813173108
Etheridge, Eric (2018).
Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders
. Vanderbilt University Press.
ISBN
9780826521903
Garrow, David J.
(1989).
Birmingham, Alabama, 1956–1963: The Black Struggle for Civil Rights
. Carlson Publisher.
ISBN
9780926019041
Halberstam, David (1999).
The Children
. Fawcett Books.
ISBN
9780449004395
Hollars, B. J. (2018).
The Road South: Personal Stories of the Freedom Riders
. University of Alabama Press.
ISBN
9780817319809
McWhorter, Diane (2001).
Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution
. Simon & Schuster.
ISBN
9780743217729
Niven, David (2003).
The Politics of Injustice: The Kennedys, the Freedom Rides, and the Electoral Consequences of a Moral Compromise
. University of Tennessee Press.
ISBN
9781572332126
Ortlepp, Anke (2017).
Jim Crow Terminals: The Desegregation of American Airports
. University of Georgia Press.
ISBN
9780820350943
Autobiographies and memoirs
edit
Armstrong, Thomas M.; Bell, Natalie R. (2011).
Autobiography of a Freedom Rider: My Life as a Foot Soldier for Civil Rights
. Health Communications.
ISBN
9780757316036
Carmichael, Stokely
; Thelwell, Michael (2003).
Ready for Revolution: The Life and Struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture)
. New York: Simon and Schuster.
ISBN
9780684850030
Farmer, James
(1985).
Lay Bare the Heart: An Autobiography of the Civil Rights Movement
. Texas Christian University Press.
ISBN
9780875651880
Lewis, John
; D'Orso, Michael (1998).
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
ISBN
9780156007085
Peck, James
(1962).
Freedom Ride
. Simon and Schuster.
OCLC
890013
Silver, Carol Ruth (2014).
Freedom Rider Diary: Smuggled Notes from Parchman Prison
. University Press of Mississippi.
ISBN
9781617038877
Zellner, Bob (2011).
The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement
. NewSouth Books.
ISBN
9781603061049
Other works
edit
Carawan, Guy; Carawan, Candie, eds. (2008).
"1961: Freedom Rides"
Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs
. NewSouth Books.
ISBN
9781588381934
Hamilton, Mary; Inghram, Louise (1961).
Freedom Riders Speak for Themselves
. News & Letters.
OCLC
12011720
Matteson, Noelle (2011).
The Freedom Rides and Alabama: A Guide to Key Events and Places, Context, and Impact
. NewSouth Books.
ISBN
9781603061063
External links
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Freedom Rides
Look up
freedom rider
or
freedom ride
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
"Freedom Rides: Recollections by David Fankhauser"
Freedom Rides of 1961
~ Civil Rights Movement Archive
Get On the Bus: The Freedom Riders of 1961
, National Public Radio
Never-Seen: MLK & the Freedom Rides
Archived
January 20, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
– slideshow by
Life magazine
You Don't Have to Ride Jim Crow!
New Hampshire Public Television/American Public Television documentary of the Journey of Reconciliation
Eyes on the Prize
, Blackside, Inc./PBS documentary of the Civil Rights Movement (Episode 3 is the Freedom Rides)
"JFK, Freedom Riders, and the Civil Rights Movement"
EDSITEment lesson plan
"The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights"
EDSITEment lesson plan
Civil Rights Era Mug Shots
, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Alabama Department of Archives & History
Spears, Ellen (June 29, 2009).
"Memorializing the Freedom Riders"
Southern Spaces
2009
doi
10.18737/M7160X
Interview with Jim Zwerg, Civil Rights Activist, United States
People's Century
television series.
PBS
and
BBC
The Freedom Riders
Archived
April 5, 2010, at the
Wayback Machine
– slideshow by
Life magazine
FBI files on the Freedom Riders
Freedom Rider Articles
. Online collection of Ride-related articles written by Freedom Riders – Civil Rights Movement Archive.
Curated links to Freedom Riders archival material
, Civil Rights Digital Library.
Civil Rights Activist Bob Zellner interviewed
on
Conversations from Penn State
Freedom Riders
historical marker in
Villa Rica, Georgia
CORE's Route 40 Project
campaign for desegregation of Maryland highway, 1961
Freedom Riders
interviews by
American Experience
at the
American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Civil rights movement
(1954–1968)
Events
timeline
Prior to 1954
Journey of Reconciliation
Executive Order 9981
Murders of Harry and Harriette Moore
Sweatt v. Painter
(1950)
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents
(1950)
Baton Rouge bus boycott
1954–1959
Brown v. Board of Education
Bolling v. Sharpe
Briggs v. Elliott
Davis v. Prince Edward County
Gebhart v. Belton
Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company
Read's Drug Store sit-in
Emmett Till
Montgomery bus boycott
Browder v. Gayle
Tallahassee bus boycott
Mansfield school desegregation
1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom
Give Us the Ballot
Royal Ice Cream sit-in
Little Rock Nine
Cooper v. Aaron
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Ministers' Manifesto
Dockum Drug Store sit-in
Katz Drug Store sit-in
Youth March for Integrated Schools (1958
1959)
Kissing Case
Biloxi wade-ins
1960–1963
New Year's Day March
Sit-in movement
Greensboro sit-ins
Nashville sit-ins
Sibley Commission
Atlanta sit-ins
Savannah Protest Movement
Greenville Eight
Civil Rights Act of 1960
Ax Handle Saturday
New Orleans school desegregation
Gomillion v. Lightfoot
Boynton v. Virginia
University of Georgia desegregation riot
Rock Hill sit-ins
Tougaloo Nine
Robert F. Kennedy's Law Day Address
Freedom Rides
Anniston and Birmingham bus attacks
Garner v. Louisiana
Albany Movement
Cambridge movement
University of Chicago sit-ins
Second Emancipation Proclamation
Meredith enrollment, Ole Miss riot
Atlanta's Berlin Wall
"Segregation now, segregation forever"
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