Freedom Riders Arrested (1961)

Thu Jun 08, 1961

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Image: Kwame Ture (formerly known as Stokely Carmichael), Gwendolyn Green, and Joan Trumpauer Mulholland. Source: “Breach of Peace” by Eric Etheridge. [zinnedproject.org]

On this day in 1961, Freedom Riders protesting segregation, including Kwame Ture, Gwendolyn Green, and Joan Trumpauer Mulholland (shown), were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi and taken to Parchman Prison. Others arrested included Jan Triggs, Rev. Robert Wesby, Helen Wilson, Teri Perlman, Jane Rosett, and Travis Britt.

The Freedom Rides were a series of protests in response to Boynton vs. Virginia, a Supreme Court ruling that declared that busses and trains should be desegregated. Despite segregation being illegal, many southern states still maintained segregated public transit systems. Protesters challenged this by joining together in multi-racial groups and traveling on the busses.