Montgomery Bus Boycott

By maddiemarkley

  • Fredrick Douglass Refuses Seat

    Fredrick Douglass and James N. Buffum got on a train car reserved for white passengers only in Lynn, Massachusetts. The conductor ordered them to leave the train car, but they refused

  • Octavius Valentine Catto Refusing to Leave His Seat

    One month after the Civil War ended, Octavius Valentine Catto refused to leave his seat when ordered to do so during a campaign to desegregate public transportation in Philadelphia. The train conductor ran the trolley off the tracks and detached the horses that were pulling it. Catto reminded seated on the trolley throughout the night. After this incident, Catto, Congressmen Thaddeus Stevens, and William D. Kelley worked to pass a bill prohibiting segregation on transit systems in Pennsylvania.

  • Rosa Parks Refused to Give Up Her Seat

    African Americans were required to sit in the back of buses, where the front half was reserved for white people. If the front half was full, African Americans were required to give up their seat for a white person. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was riding the city bus home, and was asked by the bus driver to give her seat to a white person. Parks refused and was arrested and fined $10, and $4 in court fees.

  • One Day City Bus Boycott

    After Rosa Park's arrest, Jo Ann Robinson (leader of the WPC), and E.D. Nixon (President of the local NAACP) distributed flyers talking about Park's arrest and called for a 1 day boycott of the city buses on December 5th. They believed this boycott could be effective because the city buses relied so heavily on African American riders. About 90% of African Americans did not ride buses that day.

  • Montgomery Bus Boycott

    The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a civil rights protest where African Americans refused to ride city buses. The one day protest was so successful that civil rights leaders decided to extend the boycott indefinitely. The official boycott lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956. This protest is credited as the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation.