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Period: to
1943 - 1954
Activists Take Action Against Segregation: Rosa Parks would join the Montgomery NAACP (1943) and become its secretary. Rosa's group would make "quiet" protests against racism and injustices against the Black community. -
1955: Claudette Colvin Arrested
15 year old Claudette Colvin would be arrested for refusing to give her seat up to a white person on a Montgomery bus. The NAACP had refused to take pursuit in her case.
(PBS, n.d.; Alabama Department of Archives and History, n.d.) -
December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks Arrested
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white passenger. Her arrest would add spark to local activists.
(NAACP, n.d.; PBS, n.d.) -
December 2, 1955: Grassroots Responses
The WPC, Women's Political Council, would go on to distribute thousands of flyers calling to action for a one day boycott of the Montgomery bus company and its services.
(King Institute, n.d.; Library of Congress, n.d.) -
December 5, 1955: Boycott Begins
Black residents in Montgomery avoided the use of the bus service for the entire day. The MIA, Montgomery Improvement Association, was subsequently formed to continue the boycott, electing Martin Luther King Jr. as their leader.
(National Parks Service, n.d.; King Institute, n.d.) -
December 21, 1956: The Boycott Ends
Montgomery buses would become desegregated marking a key moment in time for the Civil Rights Movement.
(King Institute, n.d.; NAACP, n.d.)