The integrating actions of these Freedom Riders met with relatively minor resistance until they arrived in Anniston, Alabama on. Jim Peck, 4th from left, also joined the 1961 Freedom Rides, and was a target of a particularly vicious beating, In the 1961 Freedom Rides, an integrated group of civil rights activists rode Greyhound and Trailways busses into the South planning for black riders to enter 'whites only' sections while white riders would enter the 'colored' waiting rooms. The picture at the left shows two personal friends, Wally Nelson and Ernie Bromley, second and third from left. This Freedom Ride was modeled after an earlier demonstration staged in 1947 in which an integrated group planned to take public busses from Washington DC to New Orleans with the intent of integrating public facilities through out the South5. Justice Department turned a blind eye to these violations, despite pleas to them to enforce the laws prohibiting segregation of interstate facilities.Īs a way of drawing attention to the continued segregation in public facilities, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) launched the Freedom Rides on. Kennedy, to enforce the federal law were ignored, and the U.S. Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. As a rule throughout the South, police not only turned a blind eye to violence against movement people, but were often active participants in the beatings. However, this federal law was officially ignored throughout the South with separate white and 'colored' facilities enforced at bus and train stations 3. The federal government had passed an Interstate Commerce Commission law stating that it was illegal to segregate public interstate facilities. In 1961, the Civil Rights Movement to end racial segregation was still in its infancy, with only a few victories realized (notably integration of Woolworth's lunch counters and, shown at the left, integration of the city buses in Montgomery, Alabama2 ). (The lynching shown occurred in Marion, Indiana in 1930). Those who violated these social mores were subject to abuse ranging from beatings to bombings to lynchings. Public facilities were claimed to be 'separate but equal' by proponents of segregation. Racial segregation was the rule throughout all of the southern and in areas of the northern United States until the 1960s. Below is a narrative of some of his recollections: He has lectured and has written extensively about his experiences as a Freedom Rider. He is currently Professor of Biology & Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College in Batavia, OH. He joined the Freedom Rides at 19 years when he was a chemistry student at Central State College in Wilberforce, OH. The writer, David Fankhauser,, was an activist and member of NAACP 1959-61, and CORE 1960-64.

Freedom riders