NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Freedom Riders

The Freedom Riders were a group of men and women from many different backgrounds and ethnicities who boarded buses, trains and planes headed for the deep South to test the 1960 U.S. Supreme Court ruling outlawing racial segregation in all interstate public facilities. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Freedom Riders. ... An early motorized bus - a Benz truck modified by Netphener company (1895) A bus is a large automobile intended to carry numerous persons in addition to the driver and sometimes a conductor. ... For other uses, see Train (disambiguation). ... An Air France Boeing 777, a modern passenger jet. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... The Rex Theatre for Colored People, Leland, Mississippi, June 1937 This entry is related to, but not included in the Political ideologies series or one of its sub-series. ...

The movement began in the 1950s. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was involved in the struggle to end segregation on buses and trains. In 1952, segregation on interstate railways was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States. This was followed in 1954 by a similar judgment concerning interstate buses. However, states in the Deep South continued their own policy of transport segregation. This usually involved whites sitting in the front and blacks sitting nearest to the front had to give up their seats to any whites that were standing. The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ... The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

African American people who disobeyed the state's transport segregation policies were regularly beaten, arrested and fined. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a middle-aged tailor's assistant from Montgomery, Alabama, took an action that was a turning point in the American Civil Rights Movement when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 â€“ October 24, 2005) was an African American seamstress and civil rights activist whom the U.S. Congress dubbed the Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement. Parks is famous for her refusal on December 1, 1955 to obey bus driver James Blake... Coordinates: Country United States State Alabama County Montgomery Incorporated December 3, 1819 Mayor Bobby Bright Area - City 404. ... The civil rights movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all citizens of United States. ...

Many people have said she was tired after a hard day's work and this may have been true in part, but in her own story, Parks -- who had volunteered to help the NAACP -- said it was more that she was tired of giving in to the bigotry and mistreatment of African Americans. She was seated in a row of two bus seats which each seated two people. One white man got on the bus and when no seat was available for him in the front section, the bus driver (who had mistreated Parks in the past) told all four of the black passengers in the front row of the rear section to move. The other three did, but Parks stayed where she was and refused to move. The driver called for the police and Parks was arrested and taken to jail. A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles or identities differing from their own. ...

After his arrest, Martin Luther King, Jr., a minister at a local Baptist Church, helped organize protests against bus segregation. It was decided that black people in Montgomery would refuse to use the buses until passengers were completely integrated. King was arrested and his house was fire-bombed. Others involved in the Montgomery Bus Boycott also suffered from harassment and intimidation, but the protest continued. Martin Luther King redirects here. ... A Baptist is a member of a Baptist church or a person who believes in baptism by full immersion. ... A church building (or simply church) is a building used in Christian worship. ... Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. ...

For 13 months, the 17,000 black people in Montgomery walked to work or obtained lifts from car owners in the city who volunteered to help. Eventually, the loss of revenue and a decision by the Supreme Court forced the Montgomery Bus Company to accept integration.

Even after this decision, transportation segregation continued in some parts of the Deep South, so in 1961, a civil rights group, the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) began to organize Freedom Rides. After three days of training in non-violent techniques, black and white volunteers sat next to each other as they traveled through the Deep South. 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE is a civil rights organization that played a pivotal role in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. ...

James Farmer, national director of CORE, and 13 volunteers left Washington, D.C. on May 4, 1961. Along the way, they met up with many other volunteers as they traveled through Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Rock Hill, South Carolina; Georgia and Anniston, Alabama. Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C. in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia. ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Nickname: The Queen City, Hornets Nest Location in Mecklenburg County in the state of North Carolina Coordinates: Country United States State North Carolina Counties Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Mayor Pat McCrory, (R) Area - City 280. ... Rock Hill is a city located in York County, South Carolina and a suburb of the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. ... Nickname: The Model City Location in Alabama Coordinates: County Calhoun Settled April 1872 Incorporated 3 July 1883 Mayor Hoyt W. â€œChipâ€ Howell, Jr. ...

In Anniston, the original bus carrying the Freedom Riders was fire bombed. As they struggled to get out of the bus, the group was beaten. They and riders on another bus were attacked by men armed with clubs, bricks, iron pipes, and knives. Still, the group continued on.

Meanwhile, a second group of riders left Nashville, Tennessee on May 14, 1961 headed for Birmingham, Alabama, where they joined with the first group of Freedom Riders on May 20, 1961. The U.S. Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, sent his assistant, John Seigenthaler Sr., to accompany the Freedom Riders. Nickname: Music City; Buckle of the Bible Belt Location in Davidson County and the state of Tennessee Coordinates: Country United States State Tennessee Counties Davidson County Founded: 1779 Incorporated: 1806 Mayor Bill Purcell (D) Area - City 526. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (135th in leap years). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Nickname: The Magic City, Pittsburgh of the South, BHam, The Ham Location in Jefferson County in the state of Alabama Coordinates: Country United States State Alabama County Jefferson, Shelby Mayor Bernard Kincaid (D) Area - City 151. ... May 20 is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (141st in leap years). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. ... Robert Kennedy Robert Francis Bobby Kennedy, also called RFK (November 20, 1925–June 6, 1968) was the younger brother of President John F. Kennedy, and was appointed by his brother as Attorney General for his administration. ... Press photo of Seigenthaler John Lawrence Seigenthaler (pronounced , born July 27, 1927) is an American journalist, writer, and political figure. ...

There in Birmingham, the passengers were greeted by members of the Ku Klux Klan with further acts of violence and the group was forced to spend the night in the "colored" waiting room at a bus station, but they journeyed on together to Montgomery, Alabama. Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ...

In Montgomery, the Alabama state capital, another mob beat the riders with chains and ax handles. Seigenthaler was knocked unconscious when he went to the aid of one of the passengers. The riders were forced to take refuge from mobs in a church.

"The KKK threatened to bomb the church," recalled John Lewis, one of the original Freedom Riders. John Lewis John Robert Lewis (born February 21, 1940) is an American politician and was an important leader in the American Civil Rights Movement as president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). ...

The Ku Klux Klan hoped that this violent treatment would stop other young people from taking part in freedom rides. However, over the next six months over a thousand people took part in freedom rides throughout the South. With local authorities unwilling to protect these people engaging in unambigously lawful activity, President John F. Kennedy sent Byron White and 500 federal marshals from the North to do the job. Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 â€“ November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy, or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. ... Byron White, official portrait. ...

During their journey, the original group of 13 grew to as many as 1,000, but the ride ended on May 25, 1961 in Jackson, Mississippi, where they were met by an angry mob of white segregationists. May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Nickname: The Best of the New South; The Bold, New City Coordinates: Country United States State Mississippi County Hinds Founded 1822 Mayor Frank Melton Area - City 276. ...

"They beat us, bloodied us, beat me unconscious," Lewis recalled. The riders were then arrested and jailed.

Sentenced to 60 days in jail and a $250 fine, Lewis spent 37 days in city and county jails and a state penitentiary. Mississippians raised the bail money to free Lewis and the others.

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 it concerned large companies who, fearing boycotts in the North, began to desegregate their businesses. 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to draft regulations to end racial segregation in bus terminals. The ICC was reluctant, but in September of 1961 it issued the necessary orders and the new policies went into effect on November 1, 1961. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC; 1887 - 1995) was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

As with the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the conflict at Little Rock, the Freedom Riders gave world publicity to the racial discrimination suffered by African Americans and, in doing so, helped to bring about positive change.

The 1961 Freedom Riders along with their families, friends and supporters, celebrated their 40th anniversary with a reunion held on Veterans Day Weekend, November 8th-November 11th, 2001, in Jackson, Mississippi. Image:Veterans day. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

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