Freedom Riders

Freedom Riders

1. May 4, 1961

   • Washington, D.C.
     • New Orleans, LA
       • start a national movement
         • challenge segregation
           • nonviolence
             • Fight Jim Crow
               • 12 buses; 6 Greyhound & 6 Trailways
                 • integration was threatening an age-old tradition
                   • September 1961
                     • ICC prohibited segregation on buses & trains
               • June 1946 U.S. Supreme Court struck down segregation; South didn't obey laws
             • EQUALITY
               • JUSTICE
                 • PEACE
                   • LIBERTY
                     • CHANGE
           • KKK
         • MLK, Jr.
           • Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth
           • Robert Kennedy
           • JFK
         • CORE
           • James Farmer
             • John Lewis

2. Birmingham, AL

   • Bull Conner
     • Public Safety Commissioner
     • provided no police protection

3. Anniston, AL

   • May 14, 1961
     • Mob - 200 men
     • bus bombed

4. Montgomery, AL

   • Gov. John Patterson
     • Martial Law
       • U.S. Marshals

5. Jackson, MS

   • Gov. Ross Barnett

6. Atlanta, GA

7. Rock Hill, SC

8. Greensboro, NC

9. Richmond, VA

10. celebration of anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education

11. 13 Freedom Riders

    • tried to use Whites Only facilities
    • tremendous violence
      • Diane Nash
        • Nashville, TN
          • Fisk University