Anniston and Birmingham bus attacks

James Farmer, one of the lead figures in CORE and organizer of the 1961 Freedom Ride.

In 1942, James Farmer and other members of the pacifist organization Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian independence movement, they aimed to apply nonviolent principles to the struggle against racial discrimination in the United States. They utilized tactics such as sit-ins and boycotts.[6][13]

The United States Supreme Court ruled in Morgan v. Virginia (1946) that Virginia's state laws enforcing segregation on interstate public buses were unconstitutional.[14][15] Despite this, bus companies and public officials in the former slave states ignored the ruling and de facto segregation largely continued, particularly in the Deep South.[16]

Participants in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, a prerunner to the Freedom Rides.

Intending to test how the 1946 Supreme Court ruling was being enforced in the Upper South, FOR member Bayard Rustin organized what he called a "Journey of Reconciliation" – now sometimes referred to as the "First Freedom Ride". In 1947 he organized for a group of sixteen FOR and CORE members (eight black and eight white) to travel through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky on interstate buses. They split into two interracial groups so they would be able to test two major bus companies, Greyhound and Trailways.

The participants only faced one incidence of violence when James Peck – the only victim of the later Anniston/Birmingham attacks to take part in the Journey of Reconciliation[9] – was punched in the head by a taxi driver. However, twelve were arrested for violating segregation and four–Rustin, Igal Roodenko, Joe Felmet, and Andrew Johnson–were sentenced to serve in chain gangs for periods ranging from 30–90 days.[17][18]

Although it brought moderate publicity to the issue of segregation, the Journey effected no change of the status quo.

In 1960, a second Supreme Court ruling, Boynton v. Virginia, extended the ban on segregation on interstate public buses to include the associated terminals and facilities, such as waiting rooms, lunch counters, and restrooms. Once again, states in the Deep South refused to comply and segregation continued.[19][20]

In early 1961, following the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, the southern civil rights movement was starting to lose the government's attention. Compared to the looming Bay of Pigs Invasion and other Cold War tensions, Kennedy's administration saw it as a minor annoyance rather than a pressing issue. After Martin Luther King Jr. was refused an invitation to a meeting between Kennedy and other civil rights leaders, he and James Farmer agreed that action needed to be taken in order to force the federal government to act.[6]

Simultaneously, Farmer was receiving reports that segregation in interstate transport was continuing in the South, despite the recent Boynton v. Virginia ruling. He raised the issue at a CORE meeting, where Tom Gaither and Gordon Carey (who had been reading The Life of Mahatma Gandhi by Louis Fischer and was inspired by the Salt March) announced that they had been considering a revival of the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation.[20]

Gandhi during the 1930 Salt March to abolish the British Salt Laws, which had a strong influence on CORE members.

Rebranded as a "Freedom Ride", it would be extended to cover states in the Deep South, where Farmer predicted it would be likely to provoke a violent response which President Kennedy would be unable to ignore.[6] Despite its potential danger and high cost, the plan was received positively by CORE's National Action Committee, particularly by members who remembered the original 1947 Journey. They swiftly endorsed it.[20]

Presenting the idea at an April 12 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) meeting – also attended by members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the National Student Association (NSA), the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) – Gaither received a positive response. The SNCC approved a "Summer Action Program", which would involve encouraging black college students to exercise the rights given to them in Morgan and Boynton as they travelled home across the country at the end of the school term.[20]

In mid-April, sixteen interracial members of CORE chapters in Missouri attempted to test Boynton by boarding a southbound bus in St. Louis. They only made it 150 miles before being arrested for entering a whites-only waiting room in Sikeston, failing to even make it out of the state. Later dubbed the "Little Freedom Ride", it was a sobering experience for CORE. In a letter to group leaders, Carey wrote "If bus protests end in arrest in Missouri, what can be expected when the Freedom Ride gets to Georgia and points South?"[20]

CORE decided on a route that would start on May 4 in Washington, D.C. and finish on May 17 (the seventh anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling) in New Orleans, Louisiana. It would pass through the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. As in 1947, the Riders would split into two groups in order to test both Greyhound and Trailways along each leg of the journey.[20]

CORE expected the Freedom Ride to encounter increasing resistance as it ventured further into the South. In order to probe possible reactions, Gaither scouted the entire journey beforehand. He surveyed each stop's facilities and met with local black community leaders to arrange accommodation for the Riders. News of the plan elicited a mixed reaction but Gaither still successfully convinced dozens of organizations (ranging from Baptist congregations to private black colleges) to host the Riders and provide speaking engagements.[20]

Segregation stipulated that black passengers sit in the back of the bus while white passengers sit in the front, with a firm divide in the middle. In order to intentionally violate this, at least one black Rider would sit in the front, and at least one interracial pair of Riders would sit on the same row. The rest of the Riders would spread out across the bus, giving them a chance to inform regular passages about the purpose of the Freedom Ride and the wider civil rights movement.[20]

For each leg of the journey, one Rider would be assigned to strictly comply with segregation. If the rest of the group faced problems with the law, this designated "observer" was to avoid arrest and remain in contact with CORE, who could arrange for help if necessary.[20]

Freedom Rider John Lewis, who would go on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was not present for the May 14 attacks.

CORE planned to recruit an interracial group of twelve to fourteen seasoned activists. All applicants were made aware of the serious risks involved and those under twenty-one had to receive parental permission. All had to demonstrated prior commitment to nonviolence and provide a recommendation from a teacher, pastor, or coworker.[20]

Before departure, they would all undergo a week of intensive training, receiving a crash course on Constitutional Law from a lawyer (mainly on what to say and do if arrested) and one on the culture of the white South from a sociologist. They would also spend three days carrying out intense role-play exercises intended to simulate the harassment that they would potentially face. This involved the volunteers hurling verbal racial abuse at each other, as well as pouring drinks and spitting on each other.[12][20]

Each Rider would be required to follow a strict dress code: coats and ties for men, dresses and high heels for women. They would all be urged to bring a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a few books, in case of arrest. Recommended reading including Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau.[20]

To begin with, Farmer selected himself and James Peck as the first two Riders. Farmer hoped to catapult himself to the front of the civil rights movement and Peck was an obvious choice as he had taken part in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation. For the rest of the Riders, CORE attempted to find a balance between black and white, young and old, religious and secular, and Northern and Southern. However, in order to minimize the possibility of women being exposed to violence, the number of men was deliberately kept higher than women. It was also based on concerns that too many interracial, intersex couples would dangerously taunt segregationists with the suggestion of interracial sex and miscegenation. This decision was controversial.[20]

CORE selected fourteen volunteers in addition to Farmer and Peck. Four of these (J. Metz Rollins, Julia Aaron, Jerome Smith, and John Moody) were all unable to attend for various reasons, and Hank Thomas was found as a last minute replacement for Moody. Four more Riders (Herman Harris, Ivor Moore, Mae Frances Moultrie, and Ike Reynolds) would join the group in Sumter, South Carolina, while three of the Riders (Farmer, John Lewis, and Benjamin Elton Cox) would leave the group before reaching Alabama.[20]

A total of fourteen Riders would be present during the May 14 attacks. Below is a full list of those who took part in the May 4 to May 14 Freedom Ride:[3][9][20][21]

On May 4, thirteen Riders set out from the Greyhound and Trailways bus stations in Washington, D.C. to modest fanfare.[4][6][20]

The only press covering the departure were three reporters from the Associated Press, The Washington Post, and the Washington Evening Star. However, accompanying the Riders on the journey to New Orleans were journalists Simeon Booker (writer for Jet and Ebony), Charlotte Devree (freelance writer), and Theodore Gaffney (freelance photographer). Moses Newson (for the Baltimore Afro-American) would also join the group in Greensboro, North Carolina.[20]

The buses left the capital without interference and only suffered minor problems in the Upper South. Joseph Perkins became the first member of the group to be arrested after he requested a shoeshine from a whites-only shoeshine chair in Charlotte, North Carolina. He rejoined the group after two days in jail.[9][20]

In Rock Hill, South Carolina, John Lewis and Albert Bigelow were attacked by two men when they tried to enter a whites-only waiting room. Genevieve Hughes was also pushed to the floor during the altercation.[20][22]

That night, while staying at Rock Hill's Friendship Junior College, Lewis received a telegram from the AFSC informing him that he was a finalist for a coveted foreign service internship. To make the final interview in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he decided to temporarily leave the Freedom Ride. His plan was to rejoin the others in Alabama on the May 15. As a result, he was not present for the attacks on May 14.[9][20]

In Winnsboro, South Carolina, Peck and Thomas were arrested when trying to use a segregated food counter. Following his release, Thomas narrowly avoided a lynch mob, being saved at the last moment by a local black minister who provided a lift in his car.[20]

Shortly after arriving in Sumter, South Carolina, Rev Cox took a leave of absence, having made a prior commitment to deliver a sermon in High Point, North Carolina. With the group down by two black members, Farmer accepted an offer to have the group joined by four students, three from Morris College and one visiting from Wayne State University. The new Freedom Riders were Herman Harris, Ivor Moore, Mae Frances Moultrie, and Ike Reynolds.[20]

As the Riders reached Atlanta, Georgia, they were greeted by cheering students. That evening, they dined with King, who heaped praise upon them. However, he privately warned Farmer that there was hints of a plot that would be carried out against them in Alabama.[20]

Later that night, while staying at Atlanta University, Farmer was informed that his ill father had passed away. After overcoming a "confusion of emotions", Farmer made a reluctant choice to return to Washington, D.C. for the funeral. Planning to rejoin the Ride a few days later, he left Perkins to take over his duties as team leader. Farmer left the group on the morning of May 14, which meant he was not present when the buses were attacked later that day in Alabama.[20]

Anniston was a small military city serving nearby Fort McClellan. It was rife with racial tension, and had already been the site of violence on January 2, when Talladega College student Art Bacon was viciously beaten by a group of men after he sat in a whites-only waiting room at the city's railway station.[24] Although it had a strong NAACP branch, it was also home to some of the most belligerent Klansmen in the country.[3]

Gaither had called it "a very explosive trouble spot without a doubt."[20]

Birmingham, the largest city in the state, was equally daunting for the Riders. King would later go on to describe it as "the most segregated city in America".[25] It temporarily earned the sobriquet Bombingham due to over forty dynamite attacks that were carried out against African-Americans and civil rights activists between 1947 and 1965.[26] In March, local activist Fred Shuttlesworth had warned that the city was "a racial powder keg that would explode if local white supremacists were unduly provoked, especially by outsiders".[20]

Eugene "Bull" Connor, the white supremacist Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham, Alabama, who conspired with the Ku Klux Klan to attack the Freedom Riders.

In charge of the Birmingham Police Department (BPD) was the white supremacist Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor. By 1961, he had already earned a reputation as a zealous supporter of segregation. In 1938, Eleanor Roosevelt drew his ire when she defied his orders to sit with other whites at a public meeting.[27] During the 1948 Democratic National Convention, he helped lead the Alabama delegation in a walkout when the party included a civil rights plank in its platform.[28]

Although press reports alerted the wider Klan to the approaching Freedom Ride, the Alabama Knights (a breakaway faction of the larger U.S. Klans) had been aware of it since mid-April. This was thanks to Police Sergeant Tom Cook, a fervent Klan supporter who passed on information that had been forwarded to the BPD by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This included details of the entire route, city-by-city.[20]

Throughout late April and early May, members of the Klan and the BPD held meetings where they conspired to attack the Freedom Ride and effectively bring it to a halt.[6] During this time, details of the Klan's plan were passed on to the FBI by informant Gary Thomas Rowe Jr., a member of Eastview Klavern #13.[20]

Robert Shelton, Imperial Wizard of the Alabama Knights faction of the Ku Klux Klan, a main organizer of the attacks.

At a clandestine meeting arranged by Klan member Hubert Page, Connor assured Robert "Bobby" Shelton, the Imperial Wizard of the Alabama Knights, that the Klan would be given time a fifteen minute window in which the police would turn a blind eye to attacks on the Freedom Riders.[6][20] Likewise, Cook told Rowe:

We're gonna allow you fifteen minutes....You can beat 'em, bomb 'em, maim 'em, kill 'em. I don't give a shit. There will be absolutely no arrests. You can assure every Klansman in the country that no one will be arrested in Alabama for that fifteen minutes.[20]

In the final days leading up to May 14, the Klan finalized their plan. To begin with, the Anniston Klavern, led by Kenneth Adams, would engage the Riders as they reached Anniston. Adams would be responsible for ensuring that the Riders did not enter the local bus stations. Following this initial assault, a second "mop-up action" would be carried out in Birmingham. One half of sixty handpicked Klansmen, encouraged to bring blunt weapons such as bats and clubs, would be assigned to the bus stations, while the other half would wait as a reserve force at a nearby hotel. Connor advised the Klan that they should find an excuse to start an altercation, for example, by having a Klansman pour coffee on himself and blame a Freedom Rider. Another suggestion was that if black Riders entered a white restroom, Klansmen should beat them and steal their clothes. This would force the Rider to leave the restroom undressed, allowing police to arrest them for public indecency.[20]

Due to information passed by Rowe to the FBI, director J. Edgar Hoover was aware of the plan to attack the Freedom Ride by May 5. Despite this, he forwarded limited information to United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and others at the United States Department of Justice. The FBI also informed Birmingham Police Chief Jamie Moore, although they suspected that he was already aware and sympathetic to the Klan's plan. At no point was anyone within the civil rights movement informed, including the Riders themselves.[20]

Following the attacks, Hoover blamed Kennedy for the backlash, stating that the Justice Department should have issued specific instructions if they wished for the Riders to be protected. However, Kennedy and others in Washington, D.C., saw this as a cover for the FBI's hostility to civil rights.[20]

Murals and signs in Anniston commemorating the Greyhound bus (top) and the Trailways bus (bottom).

In downtown Anniston two murals have been created to depict the Greyhound and Trailways buses as they would have appeared at the time of the Freedom Rides. They are accompanied by signage which informs readers about the attacks.

The Greyhound mural, created by local artist Joseph Giri, is located at 1031 Gurnee Avenue in the alleyway alongside the former Greyhound bus depot where the bus was swarmed by a mob as it arrived in Anniston. The depot itself now functions as an information center dedicated to the Freedom Rides.[37]

The Trailways mural is located at 900 Noble Street, by the former Trailways station where Klan members forced the Trailways Riders to segregate. An excerpt from the signage states:

When a desegregated bus carrying black and white 'Freedom Riders' arrived at the Trailways Bus Station in Anniston on this date, a group of young white men came aboard to enforce segregated seating: whites in front, blacks in back. The men beat the Riders, forcing them to segregate. After police intervened, the bus continued to Birmingham with the badly injured Freedom Riders kept separated by their attackers.[38]

State historic marker at the location of the Greyhound bus burning.

Informative signs are also located at the site where the Greyhound bus was set alight after being stopped by the mob. It is located along Old Birmingham Highway/State Route 202.[39]

In 2007, an Alabama Historical Marker was erected at the site by the Theta Tau chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.[40]