Truman Eisenhower Kennedy Johnson Civil Rights Montgomery Bus

Truman Eisenhower Kennedy Johnson Civil Rights

Montgomery Bus Boycott begins December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks MLK Seat on a bus Law Civil disobedience

Montgomery Bus Boycott Montgomery, Alabama had a long history of black activism In 1900, four years after Plessy v. Ferguson established Jim Crow and “separate but equal”, Montgomery segregated the new electric trolley lines African-Americans of Montgomery boycotted the lines and company profits fell 25% Trolley boycott lasted 2 years and though segregation was not overturned, there was a compromise reached between the African American community and the city: A driver could order a Black rider to move only if there were vacant seats in the back of the trolley

Montgomery Bus Boycotts By 1955 Montgomery had 68 organizations dedicated to advancing the rights of African American citizens One organization, Women’s Political Council (WPC), founded by Professor Mary Fair Burks of Alabama State University was comprised of educated Black women 1955 -the WPC responded to over 30 complaints by Black riders on city buses March 2, 1955, 8 months before Rosa Parks was arrested; a 15 year old Booker T. Washington high school student, Claudette Colvin, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a White rider Other Black women had been arrested before Colvin-Geneva Johnson, Viola White, Katie Wingfield, Espie Worthy

Montgomery Bus Boycotts Discussions for a boycott had been floated for years May 1954, Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, WPC president and professor of English at Alabama State University sent a letter to the mayor, threatening a boycott if conditions did not improve In Montgomery, Alabama during the fifties, African Americans made up the majority of riders on the Montgomery City Lines The City ordinance in support of segregation dictated that blacks paid their fares in the front, got off the vehicle, and entered the “colored section” through the rear door. They also had to relinquish their seats to white passengers when the front section filled up.

Montgomery Bus Boycott December 1, 1955—Rosa Parks, a forty-two year- old black seamstress, and member of the local NAACP, refused to give up her seat to a white person and was arrested This wasn’t the first incident. Parks in 1943 had boarded a bus and paid the fare. She then moved to her seat but driver James F. Blake told her to follow city rules and enter the bus again from the back door. Parks exited the vehicle and waited for the next bus, determined never to ride with Blake again

Montgomery Bus Boycotts Parks had attended a 1955 workshop at Highlander Folk School in Tennessee four months before refusing to give up her bus seat Founded in 1932 by Myles Horton, Highlander was one of the few places in the South where integrated meetings could take place, and served as a site of leadership training for southern civil rights activists. Lead by Septima Clark, Highlander developed a citizenship program in the mid-1950 s that taught African Americans their rights as citizens while promoting basic literacy skills. At Highlander, students practiced non-violent resistance and the song “We Shall Overcome” was introduced to the movement Visitors would testify that interracial living would have a greater impact on them than workshops

Montgomery Bus Boycott News of Park’s arrest spread quickly Jo Ann Robinson initiated the boycott with a call to Fred D. Gray, one of two black lawyers in Montgomery She typed up a leaflet announcing the boycott the same day of Park’s arrest With the help of Alabama State’s mimeograph machine she used up 35 reams of paper to produce 52, 500 leaflets announcing the boycott; the leaflets were read in all of Montgomery’s Black churches

Montgomery Bus Boycotts 3 days after Parks’ arrest a bus boycott was organized by local clergymen calling themselves the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and the Women’s Political Council (WPC) One of the original leaders of the MIA was Reverend Ralph Abernathy; in addition the MIA chose a young 28 year old minister named Martin Luther King, Jr. to lead the struggle for open seating in public transportation King was a newcomer to town, served as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. He was familiar with the works of Gandhi and Thoreau Viewed mass action and non-violent resistance essential to fight against racial justice

Montgomery Bus Boycotts Robinson and the WPC spent the weekend charting assembly points for Monday pickups, organizing phone banks, subsidizing rates with Black taxi drivers and organizing 200 cars and trucks to use as alternate transport Thousands made it to their jobs and found ways to pick up their children from school; purchase groceries and make it home The boycott would last for 381 days It ended on December 20, 1956 when the Supreme Court declared that local and state bus segregation laws were unconstitutional After the boycotts, in 1957 -King joined with other black ministers and activists to form Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); members included Bayard Rustin a long time labor, peace and civil rights activist; Stanley Levison, a Jewish lawyer experienced in radical causes; and Ella Baker would become the first full-time executive director; She was outspoken and suspicious of charismatic leadership; She questioned King’s non-violent approach

Works Cited Wineburg, Sam. Et al, Reading Like a Historian, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2013. Lawson, Stephen F. and Payne, Charles. Debating the Civil Rights Movement. Rowan and Littlefield Publishers. 2006 Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. “Martin Luther King and the Global Freedom Struggle”. Stanford University, 2015.

Research Assignment You and your group are tasked with researching and presenting one civil rights event from both the view of the “nation” and the view from the “trenches” Your presentation should be in the form of a Power Point/Google slides/Prezi (8 -10 slides) You must include one excerpted primary resource for classroom analysis to help us better understand the event. You must use one video clip/audio clip to enhance our understanding of the event. Your group should cite all sources researched for the presentation. Your presentation should be no longer than 25 minutes.

Research Assignment-Sources PBS-The African American Experience Library of Congress http: //www. gilderlehrman. org/history-by-era/1945 -present/civil-rights-movement National Humanities Center http: //www. lbjlibrary. org/exhibits/lbj-and-civil-rights Gilder Lehrman Institute http: //www. jfklibrary. org/JFK-in-History/Civil-Rights-Movement. aspx Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library https: //memory. loc. gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart 9. html John F. Kennedy Presidential Library http: //www. pbs. org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/about-the-series/ http: //nationalhumanitiescenter. org/education-programs/#primary-sources Eyes on the Prize Teacher Edition https: //www. facinghistory. org/sites/default/files/publications/Eyes_on_the_Prize. pdf