WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)

Description

In this WSB newsfilm clip from May 24, 1961, police observe a Trailways bus as it parks at the Jackson, Mississippi, station and then arrest two African American female Freedom Riders.The clip begins with a Trailways bus driving through a downtown area of Jackson, Mississippi. Several uniformed police officers stand on the sidewalk and watch as the bus pulls into the station. Later, more policemen are seen; one of the policemen holds the leash of the dog next to him. Policemen escort two African American women, Julia Aaron and Jean Thompson, from the bus station to a waiting paddy wagon. The women carry suitcases, and a photographer takes pictures of the two as they approach the vehicle.In 1961 the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized a "Freedom Ride" beginning in Washington, D.C. on May 4 with the plan to arrive in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 17. In New Orleans, the riders planned to join a celebration of the seventh anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education United States Supreme Court case ruling against segregated public education. During the journey, the Freedom Riders planned to test compliance with another Supreme Court ruling, Boynton v. Virginia. The Boynton case banned segregation in transportation facilities serving passengers traveling across state lines. The 1961 Freedom Ride was patterned after a 1947 "Journey of Reconciliation" during which CORE activists traveled through the upper South testing compliance with the Boynton decision. During the 1961 Freedom Ride, civil rights workers traveled in two groups, one...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia