The First Freedom Ride by Madison

The First Freedom Ride

On May fourth, nineteen sixty-one, a group of thirteen Freedom Riders—seven African Americans and six whites—departed from Washington, D.C., on a Greyhound bus. Their mission was to challenge segregation in the South by riding interstate buses into segregated states. The riders aimed to reach New Orleans, Louisiana, by May seventeenth, the seventh anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Early Journey and First Violence

As the Freedom Riders traveled through Virginia and North Carolina, they encountered little resistance or public attention. However, that changed on May twelfth in Rock Hill, South Carolina, when the first violent incident occurred. John Lewis, an African American seminary student and prominent member of the group, was viciously attacked while attempting to enter a whites-only waiting area. Other Black riders were also assaulted during the confrontation.

Escalation in the Deep South

The following day, the group reached Atlanta, Georgia. There, some riders transferred to a Trailways bus, while the original group continued on the Greyhound. On May fourteenth, the Greyhound bus arrived in Anniston, Alabama. An angry mob of approximately two hundred white people surrounded the vehicle, forcing the driver to bypass the bus station. The mob followed in automobiles, and when the bus's tires blew out, someone threw a bomb into the vehicle. As the bus erupted in flames, the Freedom Riders narrowly escaped—only to be savagely beaten by members of the mob waiting outside.

Violence in Birmingham

Meanwhile, the Trailways bus continued on to Birmingham, Alabama. Upon arrival, those riders were also met with violence. An enraged white mob, many armed with metal pipes, brutally attacked them. Despite knowing the Freedom Riders were coming and anticipating violence, Birmingham’s Public Safety Commissioner, Bull Connor, provided no police protection at the bus station. He later stated that he had taken no action because it was Mother’s Day.