Timeline of Bus Boycotts in the Civil Rights Movement
Early 1950: Independent, black-owned buses in Baton Rouge, La., are declared illegal.
January 1953: Bus fares in Baton Rouge are raised from 10 to 15 cents.
Roughly 80 percent of bus riders are black. The white section of the bus was in
the front, the black section in the back. Whites were given preference if bus
became full.
Feb. 11, 1953: The Rev. Theodore Jemison goes to the Baton Rouge City Council
and points out that empty seats in the white section of the bus remain empty
while blacks stand because of overcrowding in the back of the bus. Two weeks
later, the council passes ordinance allowing blacks to fill up the bus from the
back to the front and whites could fill the bus from front to back based on a
first-come first-serve basis.
March 19-June 15, 1953: The ordinance is ignored by Baton Rouge bus drivers,
who go on a four-day strike after two drivers are suspended for ignoring the
ordinance.
June 18, 1953: The United Defense League organizes a bus boycott in Baton
Rouge. Carpools are organized and funded by donations.
June 23, 1953: The Rev. Jemison calls off the boycott, although some blacks
still refuse to ride the buses. The next day, the council passes a compromise
ordinance which reserves the first two seats on the bus for whites and the last
two for blacks.
1955: Martin Luther King Jr. calls the Rev. Jemison concerning the plans that
were used to coordinate the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott, the first successful bus
boycott in the South by blacks.
Dec. 1, 1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a city bus in
Montgomery, Ala., and is arrested. The incident sparks a 382-day bus boycott.
King becomes a leader of the Montgomery boycott.
Dec. 20, 1956: The Montgomery City Lines bus company is served with a court
order to end its segregation policy.
1960: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Boynton vs. Virginia case that
segregation in interstate bus and rail stations was unconstitutional.
Oct. 13, 1960: Six Lane College students are arrested after separate groups
board two buses operated by Jackson City Lines Inc. and take seats behind the
driver. They refuse the drivers' requests to move to the back and are arrested.
Oct. 14, 1960: The boycott continues and six Lane students peacefully picket
downtown Jackson bus stops following the arrests of the students the day
before.
Oct. 15, 1960: The boycott ends after T.O. Petty, manager of the bus line,
meets with black community leaders and decides to desegregate the seating.
Oct. 17, 1960: Police Chief J.R. Gaba pledges the full resources of the
department to keep the peace but reiterates that "We do have a segregation
law." Gaba pledges that police will make arrests, but no arrests are made.
1961: Freedom Rides are organized to protest racial segregation in interstate
transportation. Interracial groups of riders board buses in Washington, D.C.,
for the Deep South to test the enforcement of the ruling. Early on, riders are
beaten, a bus is burned in Anniston, Ala., while in Birmingham, riders are
beaten by a mob a block from the sheriff's office. More than 1,000 whites
attacked riders in Montgomery, Ala., prompting federal intervention and an end
to the violence.
Sources: LSU Libraries Special Collections; American Civil Rights: Almanac,
1999; Sun archives
Take a Virtual Field trip to The Henry Ford Museum- Rosa Parks Exhibit
Early 1950: Independent, black-owned buses in Baton Rouge, La., are declared illegal.
January 1953: Bus fares in Baton Rouge are raised from 10 to 15 cents.
Roughly 80 percent of bus riders are black. The white section of the bus was in
the front, the black section in the back. Whites were given preference if bus
became full.
Feb. 11, 1953: The Rev. Theodore Jemison goes to the Baton Rouge City Council
and points out that empty seats in the white section of the bus remain empty
while blacks stand because of overcrowding in the back of the bus. Two weeks
later, the council passes ordinance allowing blacks to fill up the bus from the
back to the front and whites could fill the bus from front to back based on a
first-come first-serve basis.
March 19-June 15, 1953: The ordinance is ignored by Baton Rouge bus drivers,
who go on a four-day strike after two drivers are suspended for ignoring the
ordinance.
June 18, 1953: The United Defense League organizes a bus boycott in Baton
Rouge. Carpools are organized and funded by donations.
June 23, 1953: The Rev. Jemison calls off the boycott, although some blacks
still refuse to ride the buses. The next day, the council passes a compromise
ordinance which reserves the first two seats on the bus for whites and the last
two for blacks.
1955: Martin Luther King Jr. calls the Rev. Jemison concerning the plans that
were used to coordinate the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott, the first successful bus
boycott in the South by blacks.
Dec. 1, 1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a city bus in
Montgomery, Ala., and is arrested. The incident sparks a 382-day bus boycott.
King becomes a leader of the Montgomery boycott.
Dec. 20, 1956: The Montgomery City Lines bus company is served with a court
order to end its segregation policy.
1960: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Boynton vs. Virginia case that
segregation in interstate bus and rail stations was unconstitutional.
Oct. 13, 1960: Six Lane College students are arrested after separate groups
board two buses operated by Jackson City Lines Inc. and take seats behind the
driver. They refuse the drivers' requests to move to the back and are arrested.
Oct. 14, 1960: The boycott continues and six Lane students peacefully picket
downtown Jackson bus stops following the arrests of the students the day
before.
Oct. 15, 1960: The boycott ends after T.O. Petty, manager of the bus line,
meets with black community leaders and decides to desegregate the seating.
Oct. 17, 1960: Police Chief J.R. Gaba pledges the full resources of the
department to keep the peace but reiterates that "We do have a segregation
law." Gaba pledges that police will make arrests, but no arrests are made.
1961: Freedom Rides are organized to protest racial segregation in interstate
transportation. Interracial groups of riders board buses in Washington, D.C.,
for the Deep South to test the enforcement of the ruling. Early on, riders are
beaten, a bus is burned in Anniston, Ala., while in Birmingham, riders are
beaten by a mob a block from the sheriff's office. More than 1,000 whites
attacked riders in Montgomery, Ala., prompting federal intervention and an end
to the violence.
Sources: LSU Libraries Special Collections; American Civil Rights: Almanac,
1999; Sun archives
Take a Virtual Field trip to The Henry Ford Museum- Rosa Parks Exhibit