Photograph of an empty bus during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. (National Archives Identifier 7452358)
Background Information
The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Browder v. Gayle, Jim Crow Laws, and Rosa Parks
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest in Montgomery, Alabama, against the Montgomery bus system. It started on December 5, 1955 after Rosa Parks was arrested. Each of the 381 days, the Montgomery bus system lost 30,000 to 40,000 dollars. It ended December 20, 1956 after the Supreme Court ruled in Browder v. Gayle that segregation on buses was illegal. Aurelia S. Browder v. William A. Gayle was a lawsuit against the Montgomery laws that legalized segregation on buses. That law was one of the Jim Crow laws, any laws that implemented racial segregation. The lawsuit was filed by Fred Gray and Charles D. Langford and the plaintiffs were Aurelia S. Browder, Susie McDonald, Claudette Colvin, and Mary Louise Smith.
“4000 Negroes Vote Bus Boycott,” The Tribune (Roanoke, VA), December 10, 1955, p. 1.
Rosa Parks was a very well known activist credited with being the spark of the Montgomery Bus Boycott after refusing to give up her seat on December 1, 1955. She was a member of the NAACP and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Rosa Parks being fingerprinted, Feb. 22, 1956. Library of Congress
Rosa Parks' fingerprint card, Feb. 22, 1956. Library of Congress