First Stop on 1961 Freedom Rides

E-155

The Congress of Racial Equality, led by James Farmer, organized the Freedom Rides in 1961 to challenge racial segregation in interstate bus travel, which had persisted despite U.S. Supreme Court decisions barring segregation in seating (1946) and in terminal facilities (1960). After departing from Washington, D.C., on the morning of 4 May, the Freedom Riders first stopped here at the Greyhound Bus Terminal, where they integrated the restrooms and lunch counter without incident. As the riders traveled toward New Orleans, they encountered brutal resistance and arrest. Hundreds joined the campaign, prompting the Interstate Commerce Commission to issue new regulations enforcing desegregation.

Department of Historic Resources, 2021

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

James Peck, Freedom Ride (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962). Jim Peck, “Freedom Ride,” CORE-lator, no. 68 (May 1961). John Lewis, with Michael D’Orso, Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998). James Farmer, Lay Bare the Heart: An Autobiography of the Civil Rights Movement (Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1998). Raymond Arsenault, Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988). Detroit Tribune, 5 Aug. 1961. Washington Evening Star, 4 May 1961. Norfolk Journal and Guide, 11 Feb. 1961. Marietta Journal, 4 May 1961. Pittsburgh Courier, 11 Feb. 1961. Washington Post, 23 Sept., 3 Nov. 1961. “Freedom Rides,” https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/freedom-rides