During the spring of 1961, both African American and white student activists launched the Freedom Rides. Their goal was to challenge U.S. segregation on public transportation in the dangerous Deep South. Traveling on buses from Washington, D.C. to Jackson, MS, the Freedom Riders met violent racial opposition from white mobs in Alabama and Mississippi. The brutality against the Freedom Riders gathered national attention, eventually forcing the Kennedy Administration to intervene. The 1961 Freedom Rides were able to harness American’s outrage to force a federal ban on segregation in interstate travel … but it came at a heavy human cost.
In 1960, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation of interstate travelers, terminals, restaurants, and restrooms was unconstitutional. America’s Deep South blatantly ignored the ruling. In 1961, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) new national director, James Farmer, had the idea of a Freedom Ride to force desegregation on interstate buses. He was inspired by the black college students who’d launched the nonviolent sit-ins at lunch counters in Greensboro, NC. Farmer decided to have an interracial group of Freedom Riders ride buses from Washington, DC to New Orleans.
College students saw CORE’s announcement recruiting volunteers to participate in the Freedom Rides. Seminary student, and future Congressman, John Lewis joined 12 other civil rights activists to form an interracial, intersex group of Freedom Riders. The 13 recruits underwent three days of intensive training in nonviolence – role playing the aggressive confrontations they would encounter. The black Riders would be traveling into the Jim Crow South—where segregation was enforced—and use “whites-only” restrooms, lunch counters and waiting rooms.
CORE sent letters to President John Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and the president of Greyhound, announcing their intentions, and hope for protection. CORE decided to move forward despite receiving no response from the federal government or the bus company.
On May 4, 1961 in Washington DC, six of the Riders boarded a Greyhound bus and seven took a Trailways bus, planning to ride to New Orleans. The Riders —seven African Americans and six whites—knew they’d face racial epithets, brutal violence, and possibly even death. They prayed together that they had the courage to face their trial nonviolently in the fight for equality. Their plan was to reach New Orleans (with stops along the way) on May 17. It would commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, which ruled that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.
Violence in South Carolina …
In Virginia and North Carolina, they faced only shouts and arrest threats from locals. It was not until the riders arrived in South Carolina, that they encountered violence. The first attack occurred on May 12th in Rock Hill, SC. A group of angry white men attacked John Lewis; Albert Bigelow, an older white, World War II veteran; and Genevieve Hughes, a 28 year old white activist, as they attempted to enter a “whites-only” waiting area together. Thankfully, a local black pastor rushed them to safety. The police arrested two more of the black Riders for using a “whites-only” restroom, but later released them.
The beating, coupled with the arrests, began to attract media coverage. The next day, the group reached Atlanta, Georgia with the press now following them. The Freedom Riders successfully ate at desegregated lunch counters and sat in desegregated waiting rooms. The Riders also met with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) in Atlanta for dinner. King shared disturbing rumors about impending violence for the Riders in Alabama. King prophetically told Jet reporter Simeon Booker, who was following them:
“You’ll never make it through Alabama.”
– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Atlanta, GA, 1961
Unbeknownst to them, a Birmingham police sergeant, Tom Cook, and the Public Safety Commissioner, Eugene “Bull” Connor, were in league with the Mississippi Ku Klux Klan (KKK). They planned a violent reception for the Freedom Riders. Cook and Connor agreed that a mob of white men could beat them up for about 15 minutes. Then they’d send in the police and make a show of restoring order to the “black riot.” The FBI had an informant in the KKK and alerted the Attorney General. But neither did anything to protect the Riders, or even give them a ‘heads up.’
Ironically on May 6th, Attorney General Robert Kennedy delivered a major civil rights speech, He promised that the Kennedy administration would enforce civil rights laws. He stated that the Administration “will not stand by and be aloof.” The Freedom Riders presented an opportunity for the Attorney General to fulfill that promise. Meanwhile, their two buses left Atlanta for Alabama.
Fire in Alabama …
On May 14, the Greyhound bus arrived in Anniston, Alabama. The police allowed the KKK to attack the Freedom Riders however they wished. So an angry mob of over 100 white people armed with guns, bats, and brass knuckles surrounded the bus. The Freedom Riders held hands inside, knowing this would be their first trial by fire. Two undercover Alabama Highway Patrol officers on the bus immediately ordered the driver to lock the doors. But the angry mob only started shouting and smashed its windows with their bats. The Anniston police finally arrived and temporarily restored order. The police allowed the bus to leave – with a slashed tire.
Unfortunately, it was trailed by 30 – 40 trucks and cars that surrounded it outside of town, and forced it to stop. The slashed tire finally blew out as it braked into the shoulder. Suddenly, a member of the mob hurled a bundle of flaming rags into one of the smashed windows! It exploded into flames inside. The terrified Freedom Riders pushed to the door, but the mob blocked it. “WE’LL ROAST THEM ALIVE!” the Klan shouted. The Riders managed to escape by scrambling through windows, just as the interior of the bus burst into flames. But the Freedom Riders were hardly out of danger.
They were immediately swarmed upon by the mob and brutally beaten. Hank Thomas, one of the young black riders (only 18), was hit on the skull by a man wielding a baseball bat. Ed Blankenheim lost several teeth when he was hit in the face by a tire iron. The mob finally dispersed when one of the undercover officers fired his gun into the air and the bus fuel tank exploded. The Riders were taken to the local hospital, in the cars of fellow activists who’d been following them, where they were refused care.
Beatings in Birmingham …
The second Trailways bus, traveled separately to Birmingham, Alabama. The Freedom Riders on that bus were terrorized by KKK members who’d quietly boarded in Atlanta. At first, the white men just taunted the riders with racial slurs and threats. But when the black riders moved forward to sit in the empty white section of the bus, violence erupted. The KKK members punched two Riders in the face and pulled them to the floor, where they savagely beat and kicked them. Two other Riders, who tried to non-violently intervene, suffered the same beatings. The Klan members dragged them all to the back “colored section” of the bus.
When they arrived at Birmingham terminal, another angry white mob brandishing bats and pipes pulled the Riders from the bus and beat them again. Riders Ike Reynolds and Charles Person were thrown to the ground and bloodied by a series of vicious blows. Older white rider, Jim Peck, was struck in the head several times, later requiring 53 stitches. Bull Connor’s police force finally showed up after the planned 15 minutes, but made no arrests. The Riders escaped and all met at a local Baptist church. Connors later proudly admitted that, he sent no police protection to the station … as it was Mother’s Day.
Photographs of the burning Greyhound bus and the bloodied Birmingham Riders appeared on the front pages of national newspapers around the world. It drew international attention to the Freedom Riders and the state of Southern segregation in the U.S. The violent attacks against both buses prompted CORE’s James Farmer to reluctantly end the Freedom Ride campaign.
The decision frustrated black student activist, Diane Nash, who argued with Farmer, “We can’t let them stop us with violence. If we do, the movement is dead.” Under the new patronage and support of the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC), the Freedom Ride would continue. The SNCC organized a group of 10 college students from Nashville, Tennessee to replace the original 13 Riders.
Civil Rights leaders were wary of this risky decision, including MLK, who had declined to join the rides. Farmer questioned whether continuing the trip was “suicide.” To make matters worse, after the violence, they could not find a Greyhound or Trailways bus drivers who’d agree to transport the integrated Freedom Riders. Though faced again with the possible end of the Freedom Ride, they would still not admit defeat.
On 17 May, seven men and three women from Nashville Fisk University came to Birmingham. Just before reaching the city though, police pulled their bus over and ordered it to the Birmingham police station. There they arrested all the replacement Riders for defying Segregation Laws. The Riders went on a hunger strike in the jail. Three days later, the police finally dumped them on the side of a road – 100 miles outside of town. Undeterred, they hitched back to Birmingham to board the bus for Montgomery.
Behind the scenes, Attorney General Robert Kennedy called Greyhound and demanded that it find a replacement driver for the Freedom Riders. He sent John Seigenthaler, a Department of Justice agent, to meet with a reluctant Alabama Governor John Patterson. Seigenthaler’s negotiations resulted in the Freedom Riders bus departure for Montgomery on May 20th with a full state police escort.
Attacks in Montgomery …
At the Montgomery city line, the state troopers left the bus, as agreed, but the local police, ordered to meet the Freedom Riders, NEVER appeared. The bus pulled into the station ALONE. At the terminal, yet another angry white mob attacked the new Freedom Riders as they disembarked. A crowd armed with bricks, pipes, bats, and sticks shouted slurs and death threats. Jim Zwerg, a young white Rider, stepped off the bus first. The mob dragged him to the ground and knocked him unconscious. Two female riders were pummeled, one by another woman repeatedly swinging a heavy purse at her head; the other by a man repeatedly punching her in the face.
Agent John Seigenthaler attempted to rescue the women by pulling them into his car, but he too was knocked unconscious and kicked in the ribs. William Barbee, a young black Rider, was beaten with a baseball bat and suffered permanent brain damage. A black bystander was set afire after having kerosene thrown on him. The havoc ended when a state police officer fired warning shots into the ceiling of the bus station. All the Riders needed medical attention and were rushed to a local hospital. When the police finally arrived, they served them with an injunction barring them from continuing the Freedom Ride in Alabama.
The following night, Martin Luther King came to Montgomery and led a service at the First Baptist Church. More than 1000 supporters of the Freedom Riders attended. He told the assembly, “Alabama will have to face the fact that we are determined to be free. Fear not, we’ve come too far to turn back. We are not afraid and we shall overcome.” King blamed Governor Patterson for “aiding and abetting the forces of violence,” declaring that “the federal government must not stand idly by while bloodthirsty mobs beat nonviolent students with impunity”
When a white mob arrived, a riot ensued in the street outside the church. As the night progressed, it spread throughout the city. From inside the church, a desperate King called Robert Kennedy to beg for federal protection. The Attorney General agreed and mobilized 600 federal marshals to the city to quell the violence. Governor Patterson declared martial law and dispatched the National Guard to restore order. They were forced to use tear gas to disperse the mob. The federal marshals then escorted the people out of the church at dawn.
Arrests in Mississippi …
A compromise was worked out two days later to get the riders out of Alabama and into Mississippi. On May 24th, 27 Freedom Riders boarded buses and departed for Jackson, Mississippi, accompanied by the Alabama National Guard. In Jackson, several hundred black supporters greeted the Riders. However, police still arrested those who attempted to use the “whites-only” terminal facilities. The charges were violating segregation statutes. Instead of the city jail, police took them to the maximum-security penitentiary in Parchman under brutal conditions.
Some civil rights activists, began to criticize King for offering only moral support, and not his physical presence on the buses. In a telegram, the president of the NAACP branch in North Carolina, urged him to “Lead the way by example.… If you lack the courage, remove yourself from the vanguard.” King replied that he was on probation and could not afford another arrest. It was a response some of the Freedom Riders found unacceptable.
That same day, U.S. Attorney General Kennedy issued a statement urging a “Cooling-off Period” in the face of the growing violence: “A very difficult condition exists … There many persons traveling and using the interstate buses. In this confused situation, innocent persons may be injured. A mob asks no questions. A cooling off period is needed.”
During the Mississippi hearings, the judge turned and looked at the wall of the courtroom rather than listen to the Freedom Riders’ defense lawyer. This had happened to the lunch counter sit-in participants who were arrested for protesting segregated lunch counters. He sentenced the Freedom Riders to 30 days in jail. Attorneys from the NAACP appealed the convictions all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which eventually reversed them.
Though they never reached New Orleans, the white mob violence and national attention drew hundreds of NEW Freedom Riders to the cause. New Rides into southern states continued over the next several months. Students from all over the country purchased bus tickets to the Deep South. They eventually crowded into jails, once arrested for violating state segregation laws.
In the fall of 1961, under pressure from the Kennedy administration, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) finally issued regulations prohibiting segregation in interstate transit terminals. King, Farmer, Nash and others civil rights leaders saw how provoking white southern violence through nonviolent confrontations could attract national attention and force federal action.
Over the next four years, civil rights activists directly confronted segregation through nonviolent tactics to arouse the national conscience and pressure the federal government. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. John Lewis, one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986 as a Democrat. Lewis continued to represent Georgia’s 5th District, which included Atlanta, until his death at age 80 in 2020.
