Historic Freedom Rides to commemorate 62nd anniversary in Birmingham
On May 14, a number of national and Birmingham institutions will host a commemoration of the 62nd anniversary of the Freedom Rides.
Hosted by the national environmental nonprofit, The Conservation Fund, and a team of historic preservation partners, the commemorative gathering will include firsthand accounts from some of the Freedom Riders who heeded the call to continue the efforts to integrate the bus systems throughout the South after the attacks in Anniston and Birmingham in 1961.
The Freedom Rides started as a movement to prove that the South was not desegregating public transportation and amenities in interstate travel, including restrooms and bus terminals following the Supreme Court’s 1960 decision in Boynton v. Virginia. In the spring of 1961, 13 men and women boarded two buses in Washington, D.C. and headed south in protest of interstate transportation segregation laws.
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (center) and Freedom Riders discuss plans at Birmingham Greyhound Terminal in 1961 after drivers refused to carry them farther. The day before this meeting one of the buses was bombed in Anniston and passengers on a second bus were beaten in Birmingham. Later, the riders caught a plane out of Birmingham to New Orleans. Surrounding Shuttlesworth, clockwise from left: Ed Blankenheim, (kneeling), Charles Person, Ike Reynolds, James Peck, Rev. Benjamin Cox, and two unidentified Freedom Riders. Robert Adams or Ed Jones photo. 61-3465 bnbn
A plaque in downtown Birmingham commemorates May 14, 1961, when Freedom Riders were brutally beaten. (Photo by Greg Garrison/AL.com)
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The commemoration will start on Sunday, May at 1:30 p.m. at the Greyhound Bus Station at 618 19th Street North in Birmingham. The event will include a series of speakers including three Freedom Riders: Charles Person, who was beaten by an angry mob inside a bus station in Birmingham; Hank Thomas, who was trapped and firebombed on a bus in Anniston, Ala.; and civil rights leader Dr. Bernard Lafayette. Brent Leggs, the Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund will also speak.
After the remarks, attendees will also have the opportunity to visit a replica of the vintage Freedom Riders Greyhound bus.
Sunday’s event is a collaboration between the Conservation Fund, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the City of Birmingham, Freedom Riders Park Board, Bethel Baptist Church, the National Park Service, Wells Fargo, the National Parks Conservation Association, Women Works Media Group, the Alabama Tourism Department, Williams Blackstock Architects and the Freedom Rides Museum.
“During their 1,500-mile journey from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans, the Freedom Riders were assaulted, threatened and arrested, yet remained unwavering in their commitment to challenge segregation in America,” said Leggs in a press release. “This commemoration event — at such a historic site of African American history in Birmingham — will inspire all of us to remember the bravery and determination of the Freedom Riders, and to continue our pursuit of a more just, equitable society.”