In the year 1961, in the month of May on the 4th day, a bus left Georgia to go to the town of Birmingham, Alabama. On their way to Birmingham they took a stop in Anniston, Alabama to get something to eat at a restaurant. On the bus was a group of black and white students called the Freedom Riders. They were a group of civil rights workers. The riders were in danger because they were integrating a bus by putting whites in the back and blacks in the front. A policeman by the name of T. Eugene "Bull" Connor let a mob of whites attack the Freedom Riders' bus for 15 minutes until he let the police come.

    The Freedom Riders regrouped and traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to gather up more students and headed back to the state of Alabama. They made a stop in Birmingham (nicknamed at the time Bombingham). The riders stayed in Birmingham for hours until they were able to ride a bus. The bus took them to Montgomery, Alabama.

    After making it to Montgomery, they met a mob of white people that beat several of the Freedom Riders. Wounded and bandaged, the Riders hid in the homes of local blacks and the next day they attended Ralph Abernathy's First Baptist Church for a mass meeting.

A frustrated mob of whites stoned the church and held the group inside until the next day. By that time the Riders had already had a plan to travel to Mississippi and New Orleans. After these actions by the white citizens of Montgomery, the city was placed under martial law. The National Guard was called and Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent federal marshals who escorted the group to Jackson, Mississippi. The entire group was immediately arrested on May 21 in Jackson for trying to use "white" restrooms. Another group of Riders came into Jackson including a man by the name of James Farmer, and the whole group soon was arrested. As you can see the Riders have had tough times for their accomplishments in life.

By. Neb. Townsend