FREEDOM RIDERS ATTACKED WITH CLUBS & METAL PIPES IN ALABAMA
Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) On 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 to the Alabama state capital, but when they arrived at the bus terminal, 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...
"It was very violent. I thought I was going to die. I was left lying at the bus station unconscious."
*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 Lewis and Jim Swerg
After the Montgomery Attack
May 20, 1961
Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) On 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 to the Alabama state capital, but when they arrived at the bus terminal, 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...
"It was very violent. I thought I was going to die. I was left lying at the bus station unconscious."
*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.
After the Montgomery Attack
May 20, 1961
