"AN ANGRY MOB CAME OUT OF NOWHERE"

FREEDOM RIDERS BRUTALLY ATTACKED BY MONTGOMERY MOB

Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) On May 20, 1961, a bus load of "Freedom Riders*," were attacked by segregationists here in Alabama's state capital, Montgomery.

Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy requested that the Greyhound Bus Company transport the group to Montgomery from Birmingham.

When the bus pulled into the downtown terminal, three hundred segregationists appeared.  Future Congressman John Lewis later said...

"An angry mob came out of nowhere, hundreds of people, with bricks and balls, chains."

Mr. Lewis was severely injured along with others including Jim Zwerg, a college student and John Siegenthaler, an aide to the Attorney General.

President John F. Kennedy called upon Alabama Governor John Patterson to exercise his authority to prevent further violence.

*Freedom Riders were groups of black & white civil rights activists who rode buses into the South to protest segregated bus terminals.

JFK+50 NOTE

After the first attacks on Freedom Riders in Birmingham, Alabama on May 16, 1961, the Freedom Rides, initially sponsored by CORE (Congress of Racial Authority) continued under direction of the Nashville Student Movement, 22 Tennessee college students.

SOURCE

"White Mob Attacks Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Alabama," A History of Racial Justice, www.eji.org/

 

 

Freedom Riders National Monument

Anniston, Alabama

Photo by Ser Amantio di Nicolao

2017

"THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT INTENDS TO MEET ITS RESPONSIBILITIES"

JFK ISSUES STATEMENT AFTER ATTACK ON FREEDOM RIDERS 

Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) On May 20, 1961, a bus load of Freedom Riders* came under attack here in Montgomery.  300 segregationists were waiting at the city's bus terminal armed with clubs and metal pipes.

Among the most seriously injured were Jim Swerg** and John Lewis.***  Swerg's suitcase was taken from him and used to hit him in the face and knock him to the ground.  He was then beaten repeatedly by the mob. 

John Lewis later described what he had experienced...

"It was very violent.  I thought I was going to die."

Later in the day, President John F. Kennedy issued the following statement...

"The situation...in Alabama is a source of the deepest concern.  I have instructed the Justice Department to take all necessary steps based on their investigations and information.  I call upon the Governor...and other officials...to exercise their lawful authority to prevent any further outbreaks of violence.  I hope...local officials...will meet their responsibilities.  The United States Government intends to meet its."

*Freedom Riders were young people who challenged racial laws in the American South during the early 1960s, originally by refusing to abide by laws directing segregated seating by race on public buses.

**Jim Swerg was born in 1939 in Appleton, Wisconsin.  He attended Beloit College and also was an exchange student at Fisk University in Nashville.  Jim joined SNCC in 1960.

***John Lewis was born to a family of sharecroppers in Troy, Alabama in 1940.  He graduated from Alabama Baptist Theological Seminary and Fisk University.   JL was chairman of SNCC during the civil rights era and one of the original 13 Freedom Riders.  

SOURCE

"Statement by the President Concerning Interference With the 'Freedom Riders' in Alabama.  May 20, 1961," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States:  John F. Kennedy, January 20 to December 31, 1961, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1962.

John Lewis & Jim Swerg

Civil Rights Exhibition Photo
The Newseum

ROSA PARKS PLUS SIXTY

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1783

SIXTY YEARS AGO TODAY ROSA PARKS 'TIRED OF GIVING IN'

Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) Sixty years ago today, December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, now acknowledged as 'the mother of the civil rights movement,' was arrested here in Montgomery for violation of the city's segregation code, Chapter 6, Section 11.

Ms. Parks, on her way home from work, boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus in downtown Montgomery at 6 p.m.  She sat five rows back in the first row reserved for African-Americans.

When the bus reached the third stop in front of the Empire Theater, driver James Blake ordered Ms. Parks and three other black passengers to give up their seats to the boarding white passengers. While the other passengers followed Blake's directions,  Rosa Parks did not.

Rosa later recalled...

"When that white driver stepped back toward us...and ordered us out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night."

Mr. Blake called the police and Ms. Parks was arrested, taken to jail, and charged.  Ironically, it was the same driver who had put Rosa Parks off his bus in 1943.

When JFK+50 visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, we learned that Mrs. Park's action was not the first of its kind in the city and that she had training in non-violent protest. 

Rosa was trained at the Highlander Folk School which specialized in the training of activists for worker's rights and later civil rights. The school was founded by Myles Horton and board members included Eleanor Roosevelt.

While Rosa Parks was "prepared" to do what she did, it was she who decided when it was time to do it. Rosa said after the years passed that some people claimed she was "tired" on that day, but, in her own words, she was just "tired of giving in."

Rosa Parks was found guilty of violating segregation laws, given a suspended sentence and fined $10 plus $4 court costs.  The arrest and sentencing of Rosa Parks led directly to establishment of the Montgomery Improvement Association by Rev. Ralph Abernathy and other ministers.  They chose Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as its president.

One week later, Rev. King said...

"There comes a time that people get tired.  We...are tired of being segregated and humiliated, tired of being kicked about by the brutal feet of oppression."

SOURCE

"We Shall Overcome:  The History of the Civil Rights Movement As It Happened," by Herb Boyd, Sourcebooks Inc., Naperville, IL, 2004.

Cleveland Avenue Bus
Henry Ford Museum
 Source: Eege Fot vum

Rosa Parks and MLK

 Montgomery, AL (1955)

 US Information Agency Photo

ATTACK ON FREEDOM RIDERS

MAYHEM IN MONTGOMERY ALABAMA 54 YEARS AGO TODAY

Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) Fifty-four years ago today, May 20, 1961, a bus load of Freedom Riders* came under attack here in Montgomery.  Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy had convinced Greyhound Bus Company officials to transport this group of Freedom Riders to the Alabama state capital at Montgomery.

When they arrived at the bus terminal, however, 300 segregationists were waiting for them with clubs and metal pipes.  Among the most seriously injured were Jim Swerg** and John Lewis.***

Swerg's suitcase was taken from him and used to hit him in the face and knock him to the ground.  He was then beaten repeatedly by the mob.  From his hospital bed, Mr. Swerg said..."Segregation must be stopped.  It must be broken down.  Those of us in the Freedom Rides will continue."

John Lewis later described what he had experienced in Montgomery this way...
"It was very violent.  I thought I was going to die.  I was left lying at the bus station unconscious."

An administrative assistant to the Attorney General, John Seigenthaler,**** who had been sent to Montgomery as chief negotiator for the Kennedy administration, was knocked unconscious while attempting to assist a young female freedom rider who was being chased by the angry mob.

President John F. Kennedy called upon Alabama Governor John Patterson to exercise his authority to prevent further outbreaks of violence.

*Freedom Riders were young people who challenged racial laws in the American South during the early 1960s, originally by refusing to abide by laws directing segregated seating by race on public buses.

**Jim Swerg was born in 1939 in Appleton, Wisconsin.  He attended Beloit College and also was an exchange student at Fisk University in Nashville.  Jim joined SNCC in 1960.

***John Lewis was born to a family of sharecroppers in Troy, Alabama in 1940.  He graduated from Alabama Baptist Theological Seminary and Fisk University.   JL was chairman of SNCC during the civil rights era and one of the original 13 Freedom Riders.  

****John Seigenthaler, Sr. (1927-2014) was born in Nashville, TN.  He served in the USAF and began his career in journalism with the Nashville Tennessean.  In 1961, John served as RFK's assistant in the Justice Department and became publisher of the TENNESSEAN in 1973.

John Lewis and Jim Swerg

May 20, 1961

                 

JFK+50 TOP TEN POSTS #4

JFK+50 TOP POST #4

Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) Today we continue a review of the ten most popular posts of our JFK+50 blog since we began in November 2010.  This review will include updates and revisions of the original posts. 

Thanks to all our visitors worldwide.

ROSA PARKS TIRED OF GIVING IN 

December 1, 2011, Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) Fifty-six years ago today, December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks* was arrested here in Montgomery for violation of the city's segregation code, Chapter 6, Section 11.

 Rosa Parks and MLK

 Montgomery, AL (1955)

 US Information Agency Photo

Ms. Parks, on her way home from work, boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus in downtown Montgomery at 6 p.m.  She sat five rows back in the first row reserved for African-Americans.

When the bus reached the third stop in front of the Empire Theater, bus driver James Blake ordered Ms. Parks and three other black passengers to give up their seats to the boarding white passengers.

While the other passengers followed Blake's directions,  Rosa Parks did not.

Rosa later recalled...

"When that white driver stepped back toward us...and ordered us out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night."

Mr. Blake called the police and Ms. Parks was arrested, taken to jail, and charged.  Ironically, it was the same driver who had put Rosa Parks off his bus in 1943.

When JFK+50 visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, we learned that Mrs. Park's action was not the first of its kind in the city and that she had training in non-violent protest. 

Rosa was trained at the Highlander Folk School** which specialized in the training of activists for worker's rights and later civil rights. The school was founded by Myles Horton and board members included Eleanor Roosevelt.

While Rosa Parks was prepared to do what she did, it was she who decided when it was time to do it.

That time came on the first day of December, 1955.

Rosa said after the years passed that some people claimed she was tired on that day, but, in her own words, she was just "tired of giving in."

              Cleveland Avenue Bus

               Henry Ford Museum

              Source: Eege Fot vum

Rosa Parks was found guilty of violating segregation laws, given a suspended sentence and fined $10 plus $4 court costs.

The arrest and sentencing of Rosa Parks led directly to establishment of the Montgomery Improvement Association by Rev. Ralph Abernathy and other ministers.  They chose Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as its president.

One week later, Rev. King said...

"There comes a time that people get tired.  We...are tired of being segregated and humiliated, tired of being kicked about by the brutal feet of oppression."

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was initiated.

Lasting 4 days short of a year, the action cost the bus company a great deal of money because most of their customers were black.  

The stand against segregation did not come without costs.  The homes of Dr. King and E.D. Nixon, head of the Montgomery branch of the NAACP, were bombed.

Southern United States senators issued a manifesto opposing the Supreme Court decision to desegregate American schools.

The High Court, however, went on to declare segregation of public transportation in Montgomery unconstitutional.

Statue of Rosa Parks

US Capitol (2013)

Photo by Farragutful

*Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1913.  She had to walk to her elementary school while fellow white students rode the bus.  In 1955, she worked as a seamstress and was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP.

Rosa was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999 as the 'Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.'  She died at the age of 92 on Oct 24, 2005.

Bill Clinton Honors Rosa Parks

**Highlander Research and Education Center was founded as the Highlander Folk School in Grundy County, Tennessee in 1932.  During the 1950s, it became a training center for members of SNCC including Dr. King, Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis, Bernard Lafayette and others.

Having lost its charter, the school moved to Knoxville in 1961 where it operated for the next decade.

In 1971, the Center moved to its current location in New Market, Tennessee where its focus is now on issues of democratic participation and economic justice.

Highlander Center

New Market, TN.

Photo by John White (2008)

Highlander Center

New Market, TN.

Photo by John White (2008)

SOURCE

"We Shall Overcome:  The History of the Civil Rights Movement As It Happened," by Herb Boyd, Sourcebooks Inc., Naperville, IL, 2004.

ROSA PARKS ARRESTED 57 YEARS AGO TODAY!

December 1, 2012

ROSA PARKS ARRESTED 57 YEARS AGO TODAY!

                   Rosa Parks & MLK
      Montgomery, Alabama (1955)
      US Information Agency Photo

Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) 57 years ago today, December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested here in Montgomery, Alabama for violation of the city's segregation code, Chapter 6, Section 11.*  

Ms. Parks, on her way home from work, boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus in downtown Montgomery at 6 p.m.  She sat 5 rows back in the 1st row reserved for "colored" people.

When the bus reached the 3rd stop in front of the Empire Theater, bus driver James Blake ordered Ms. Parks & 3 other black passengers to give up their seats to the boarding white passengers.

The 3 other passengers followed Blake's directions.  Ms. Parks did not.

Mr. Blake called the police & Rosa Parks was arrested, taken to jail, & charged.*

*When JFK+50 visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, we learned that Mrs. Park's action was not the first of its kind in the city & that she had training in non-violent protest.  She was "prepared" to do what she did but it was she who would decide when to do it.

             Cleveland Avenue Bus
               Henry Ford Museum
              Source: Eege Fot vum

Mrs. Park's arrest led directly to the Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

The boycott, lasting 381 days, cost the bus company a great deal of money as most of their bus riders were black.  

The boycott came to an end when the United States Supreme Court ruled segregation laws on public transportation in Montgomery unconstitutional. 

Segregation in public transportation did not come to an end nationally until passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  

This act was proposed by JFK but did not have enough support in Congress until after his death.**

**Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1913.  She had to walk to her elementary school while fellow white students rode the bus.  She later said:

"I'd see the bus pass every day.  But to me, that was a way of life.  The bus was among the 1st ways I realized there was a black world & a white world."

Rosa Parks was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999 as the 'Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.'  She died at the age of 92 on Oct 24, 2005.

President Clinton Honors Rosa Parks

JFK+50  Note:

Today's posting is a revision of the 4th most popular post on JFK+50 dated December 1, 2010.

Update:

Just learned from Smithsonian.com that the arrest record for Ms. Parks has Mr. Blake as both the "complainant" & signer of the warrant.