Montgomery Bus Boycott: The Birth of the Large-Scale Civil Rights Struggle
Bradley Kelly
Class: American History
Unit: Origins of the Modern Civil Rights Movement
NCSS Thematic Strands: Time, Continuity, and Change & Power, Authority, and Governance
Grade Level: 10-11
Class Periods Required: One 44 minute session.
Purpose, Background, and Context:
This lesson is occurs within the context of a unit which explores the origins of the Modern Civil Rights
Movement. This unit begins by studying the legal and social barriers erected against African Americans
during the Jim Crow era. It continues by examining legal challenges to structural inequality, such as the
Brown vs. the Board Decision. Furthermore, this unit examines modes of cultural resistance, such as
music, and individual acts of resistance.
The current lesson explores how the Montgomery Bus Boycott marked a transition in the civil rights
struggle from a handful of legal experts or cultural icons into a mass movement. The Montgomery Bus
Boycott was a successful grassroots challenge to structural inequality. It not only served as a symbol for
the larger civil rights struggle, but also served a tactical model which could be widely replicated.
In the previous lesson, students complete a primary source activity in which they analyzed police reports
from Montgomery, AL in the 1940s. This collection of primary sources deals with incidents on
segregated buses, similar to the incident which ended in Rosa Park’s arrest. Student will try to
determine why these isolated incidents were unsuccessful in bringing about change.
In this lesson, students assume the role of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization
that was tasked with organizing the bus boycott. Students will work in committees to come up with
solutions to real problems faced by the Montgomery Improvement Association in organizing the
boycott. Then, students will critically reflect upon why the Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful in
overcoming bus segregation, when previous challenges were not. Finally, students will identify the
lessons the Civil Rights Movement learned from the Montgomery Bus Boycott which helped the
movement become more effective in achieving its goals.
Students Will Know:
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Definition of core concepts: Boycott, Civil Disobedience, Civil Rights, Segregation, and “Separate
but Equal”.
Key historical figures: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks
Montgomery Bus Boycott and Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)
Students Should Understand:
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The three factors that made the Montgomery Bus Boycott succeed where previous challenges to
segregation in Montgomery failed
The connection between self-efficacy, advocacy, and grassroots action
The problem-solving power of collaboration
Students Should Be Able To:
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Actively participate in activity which examines the challenges faced by the Montgomery
Improvement Association.
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Critically reflect upon why the Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful in overcoming bus
segregation, when previous challenges were not.
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Identify the lessons the Civil Rights Movement learned from the Montgomery Bus Boycott which
helped the movement become more effective in achieving its larger.
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Recognize, understand, and apply core concepts of American History in varying contexts (NCSS
Standards, p. 32).
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Extract requisite information from a variety of media including: readings, lectures,
presentations, class discussions, and videos.
Benchmarks:
National Council for the Social Studies Standards:
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Apply key concepts such as time, chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to
explain, analyze, and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity
(NCSS Standards, p. 34)
Examine persistent issues involving, rights, roles, and status of the individual in relation to the
general welfare (NCSS Standards, p.39).
Iowa Core Curriculum Essential Concepts and Skills:
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Understand how cultural factors influence the design of human communities (Iowa Core
Curriculum, p. 25).
Understand historical patterns, periods of time, and the relationship among these elements
(Iowa Core Curriculum, p. 31).
Understand how and why people create, maintain, or change systems of power, authority, and
governance (Iowa Core Curriculum, p. 31).
Understand the role of individuals and groups within a society as promoters of change or the
status quo (Iowa Core Curriculum, p. 32).
Iowa Core Curriculum Rigor and Relevance:
Quadrant C: Assimilation
Quadrant D: Adaptation
Students will define core concepts, vocabulary, Students will be asked to reflect on their
and historical actors involved in the Montgomery experiences during the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Bus Boycott.
Activity. They will be asked to draw upon solutions
that are readily available to them as high school
students.
Quadrant A: Acquisition
Quadrant B: Application
Students will acquire knowledge about the
Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Montgomery
Improvement Association by reading an assigned
article in their unit packet.
Students will engage in the Montgomery Bus
Boycott Activity. They will assume the role of MIA
organizers and work in committees to problemsolve real challenges faced by the MIA in
challenging segregation.
Materials:
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Unit Packet
o Unit Plan
o Lesson Plan
o Montgomery Bus Boycott Reading
o Pass into Class
o Assignment Sheet
o Committee Problems
o Discussion Guide
o Bayard Rustin’s Memo (Homework)
Before Class:
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Assemble unit packets
Print off/cut out Committee Problems
Write out the class timing
Procedure:
Day 1: (44 min.)
Procedure 1: ( 5 min.)
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Pass into Class: Students were assigned the Montgomery Bus Boycott Reading (in their unit
packet) as homework the last time that the class met. This reading serves as an introduction to
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today’s lesson. Students also completed a Pass into Class in order to build the foundation and
vocabulary necessary for today’s lesson.
Tell students to have their unit packets out and opened to their Pass into Class.
At the beginning of class, go around and check for completion. Stamp completed homework.
Students will turn this in with their unit packet toward the end of the unit.
Daily announcements and reminders (due dates, upcoming test reminder, etc.)
Procedure 2: (5 min)
Priming Activity
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Students answer several priming questions based on Pass into Class in order to set the stage
for Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Call on students using hot seat numbers, so that every student has an equal chance of being
called upon.
Priming Questions:
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What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
What was the Montgomery Improvement Association?
Who was Martin Luther King? What role did he play in the boycott?
Who was Rosa Parks? What role did she play in the boycott?
Remind Students:
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Yesterday student did primary source activity, for which they examined police reports
from 1940s Montgomery, AL involving incidents on segregated buses (similar to the
incident that led to Rosa Park’s arrest).
Talk about individual acts of resistance and structural inequality.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott marks the beginning of when the civil rights struggle
becomes a large-scale struggle, not an individual issue.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott serves as a symbol for the Modern Civil Rights Movement.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott serves as a model for the Modern Civil Rights Movement.
Procedure 3: (10 min)
Introduce Montgomery Bus Boycott Activity
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Direct students to Activity Instructions in unit packet.
Students will be working on a committee with a group of classmates.
Divide students into committees.
Committees select topics (record topics and group members).
Committees
 Transportation
 Negotiation
 Media
 Mass Meetings
 Education
Individual Roles
 Spokesperson: will speak for the committee.
 Question Asker: will be the person designated to ask the teacher questions, as needed.
 Discussion Leader: will lead discussion and make sure every member contributes.
 Secretary: will take notes for the group to submit to the teacher each day.
Expectations:
 The teacher will hand out a challenge to each committee.
 Each committee is responsible for coming up with four ways to overcome their
challenge.
 Each committee will record its solutions on the Discussion Guide.
 Each committee will describe its challenge and share its solutions with the class.
Procedure 4: (15 min)
 Hand out Challenges to each committee.
 Student committees work together to divide up the task and come up with four
solutions.
 Committees discuss and fill out their Discussion Guide.
 Circulate among groups in order to increase student on-task time, render help, and
increase the amount of positive contacts with students.
Procedure 5: (10 min)
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Each committee’s spokesperson briefly shares their committee topic, challenge, and
four solutions with the class.
Explain: The structural problems of inequality were most effectively challenged through
group action.
Procedure 6: (with time remaining)
Assign homework: Why Did the Montgomery Bus Boycott Work? Article
Pass into Class: Students answer questions at the end of the reading on a separate sheet of
paper. Due next time the class meets.
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Students may use any remaining class time to read the article and work on their Pass
into Class.
Assessment of Outcomes:
Students will:
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Students will complete a reading and a Pass into Class in order to demonstrate they have come
prepared to class to learn about the present topic.
Students will work in committees to problem-solve solutions to real challenges face by the
Montgomery Improvement Committee in organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycot.
Students will diligently participate in group conversation and fulfill their assigned responsibilities
to their group.
Students will read a second article for homework and answer reflection questions for a Pass into
Class the next time the class meets.
Diverse Learners’ Needs
•
A range of media will be used to deliver instruction in order to create multiple points of entry
into the learning task and to cater to individual learning styles.
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Students with special needs will be monitored by the teacher to ensure understanding and
comprehension of the activities. Additional instruction will be administered if the need is
determined. The teacher will maintain proximity to students during group discussion.
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The teacher will utilize any para-educators present as note-takers for the student they are
aiding.
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The teacher will offer highlighters to students who are working on their homework toward the
end of class, so that students can annotate the reading.
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Changes in assessment will be made as follows: Students may also be allowed to bullet their
activity sheet responses.
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Students will work in groups comprised of members with varying ability sets in order to create a
proficient balance of ability for the learning tasks of this lesson.
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Student choice will be built into the lesson.
Extensions and Adaptations
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Students could also work in groups to write skits that convey the problem faced by their
committee as well as the solutions they have identified.
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The teacher could provide a vocabulary list and an outline summary of any readings for ESL
students or students with special needs.
Resources:
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NCSS: National Social Studies Standards
NCSS: American History Standards
Iowa Core Curriculum
Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott by Stewart Burns
http://www.civilrightsteaching.org
www.tolerance.org/
http://www.thenation.com
American History by Alan Brinkley
The American Nation by Davidson and Staff
Homework: The Montgomery Bus Boycott
(The Nation, August 31, 2010)
On December 1, 1955, a 42-year-old African-American seamstress named Rosa Parks refused
to surrender her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus to a white man. With that simple act
of rebellion, the modern civil rights movement was born.
In the 1950s, the majority of bus riders in Montgomery were black, but city regulations required
that they not only sit in the rear of buses, but also had to surrender their seats to a white
person when all the seats in front were filled. When Parks balked at leaving her seat, she was
arrested and jailed.
Parks wasn't the first person to protest the laws, but her arrest galvanized Montgomery's black
community. A one-day protest was planned. Then word of the action found its way to several
leaders in the black community, including the 27-yearold pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist
Church, Dr. Martin Luther King. On December 2, a meeting was held of community activists. The
group decided to organize a boycott of the city bus service until the city ended Jim Crow rules
on its buses. To organize the community, the group formed the Montgomery Improvement
Association with King as its leader.
On December 5, the boycott began. That morning, Montgomery's citizens were treated to an
incredible sight. While the city buses were nearly empty, sidewalks were crowded with blacks
walking to work. Others carpooled or took cabs, with black cab drivers lowering their fares in
support of the boycotters. The city recognized immediately it had a huge problem on its hands.
Not only was it facing staggering financial losses, it also saw for the first time that a politically
unified black community could spell doom for segregation. The city could have negotiated with
the boycott leaders (not all cities in the South had segregated bus service), but Mayor "Tacky"
Gayle instead chose to intimidate the boycotters in an effort to force them back onto the buses.
Cab fares were raised. Carpooling was made illegal. Leaders, including King, were arrested.
King's home was also firebombed. Nothing, however, could break the will of the black
community, whose determination was soon being admired around the world.
For 381 days, despite brutal harassment, and no protection from the state or federal
government, the boycott endured. When it finally ended on December 27, 1956, not only was it
a complete victory for the black community, but the civil rights movement had a new leader in
King and a momentum that over the next ten years would destroy nearly every vestige of Jim
Crow that had plagued the South and the nation since the Civil War.
Name:_________________________
Pass into Class
Directions: Read the article “The Montgomery Bus Boycott”. Answer the following questions
based on the reading.
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What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
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What was the Montgomery Improvement Association?
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Who was Martin Luther King? What role did he play in the boycott?
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Who was Rosa Parks? What role did she play in the boycott?
Directions: Use your textbook to define the following terms:
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Segregation:
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Boycott:
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Civil Disobedience:
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Civil Rights:
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“Separate but Equal”:
You Are in the Montgomery Improvement Association
(adapted from http://www.civilrightsteaching.org)
Your role:
You are in the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). You are an organizer who feels
segregation in the United States is wrong, but you are scared. As you see it, participation in a
boycott could cause you to lose your job and possibly even subject you to physical violence.
The task of organizing a boycott is immense. In the upcoming weeks you and your fellow MIA
members must handle organizational responsibilities such as selecting a spokesperson for the
organization, dealing with the day-to-day tasks of creating an organization, finding alternative
modes of transportation, and confronting people in Montgomery who are hostile to you and
your cause. In addition to your organizational duties, you must motivate individuals through
songs and speeches for the long struggle ahead.
Directions:
You will be working on a committee with some of your classmates. Your teacher will divide you
into committees. From there, you will select a committee topic for which your committee will
be responsible.
Select the committee you would like to participate in.
 Transportation
 Negotiation
 Media
 Mass Meetings
 Education
Once you have chosen your committee topic, select individuals for the following roles:
 Spokesperson: will speak for the committee
 Question Asker: will be the person designated to ask the teacher questions, as needed
 Discussion Leader: will lead discussion and make sure every member contributes
 Secretary: will take notes for the group to submit to the teacher each day
Expectations:
 The teacher will hand out a challenge to each committee.
 Each committee is responsible for coming up with four ways to overcome their
challenge
 Each committee will record its solutions on the Discussion Guide
 Each committee will describe its challenge and share its solutions with the class
Transportation Committee Challenge
In the early stages of the boycott, African-American taxicab drivers provide an emergency 10cent cab fare for boycotters. This practice is ruled illegal by the police commissioner, so MIA
organizers must develop a new method to transport all boycott participants. It is not illegal for
individual passengers to make contributions to the MIA; however, the MIA can subsidize a
carpool. But the carpool system has run into major driver shortages, and some of the drivers
have stolen money from the MIA for gasoline and tires. And now the police have ruled that it is
illegal for more than two people to ride in a car. What can the MIA do to facilitate
transportation arrangements?
Negotiation Committee Challenge
The initial goals of the boycott were for the bus company to adopt a first-come, first-served
segregation basis; mandate drivers’ courtesy to blacks and discipline violators of this rule; and
make jobs as bus drivers available to blacks. In the early rounds of negotiations, the bus
company and the city government made concessions to the MIA. They promised that the bus
company would treat the riders with more respect, but the white negotiators would not change
the practice of preferential seating for whites nor would they agree to hire African-American
bus drivers. What should the negotiators do in order to convince the white bus owners and city
government officials to change these discriminatory policies?
Media Committee Challenges
1. One of the most important parts of an economic boycott is dealing with the media.
Decide how the MIA should generate excitement and a greater understanding of the
reasons for the boycott.
2. The boycott was initially led by local activists such as Jo Ann Robinson and E. D. Nixon. A
26-year-old minister named Martin Luther King Jr. has emerged as a very talented
spokesperson for the boycott. But many people feel that he is too young, does not have
a lot of experience, and has not lived in Montgomery very long. What should be his
media role?
3. How will you share information with the boycotters? Remember, the mass media is not
likely to print public service announcements for you. In addition, this is all happening
long before people have computers in their homes, let alone e-mail.
Mass Meetings Committee Challenge
In these days (without the existence of e-mail), there needs to be a way to communicate with
people about the progress of the boycott, present decisions that need to be made, and provide
updates on strategy. It has been decided to hold mass meetings, some during the day and
others in the evening in order to accommodate everyone’s schedule. The only locations large
enough and willing to open their doors to the African-American public are the churches. (This is
just one more example of the multiple roles black churches have played for many years, when
other “public” institutions refused to open their doors to African Americans.) The mass
meetings are an important part of the overall organizing, providing participants with direction
and purpose. Initially, people were drawn to the meetings because of the excitement about the
boycott—there was a sense of power in taking a stand. However, the constant harassment
(participants were often faced with threats of violence by those who opposed the civil rights
movement) and the daily logistical struggles are wearing people down. Many individuals
complain that though they love the speeches in the mass meetings, they need more variety. To
sustain the momentum, what can you, the organizers, do to make the meetings more spirited
and uplifting?
Education Committee Challenge
Recently, the houses of some of the bus boycott leaders were bombed. Many of the individuals
walking to work face harassment from their employers. There is always the threat of action by
the local Ku Klux Klan. Many members of the Montgomery community are upset at the violence
and they want to retaliate. However, the foundation of the movement is nonviolence. Your job
is to convince the MIA members that the best way to respond is with nonviolence. Determine
how you will make your case about the power of nonviolence, as it’s described in the quotes
below:
“Nonviolence is fighting back, but you’re fighting back with other weapons.”—
Bernard Lafayette
“I supposed that human beings looking at it would say arms are the most dangerous thing that
a dictator needs to fear, but in fact, no. It is when people decide that they want to be free.
Once they have made up their minds to that, nothing will stop them.”—Desmond Tutu
Committee Discussion Guide
Committee Members:
What is your Committee’s topic?
What is your Committee’s challenge?
List four ways to solve this challenge:
1.
2.
3.
4.
How did your committee come to a decision regarding the challenge you faced? (For example,
did you have any disagreements? If so, how did you resolve them?)
Homework: Why Did the Montgomery Bus Boycott Work?
Rustin to King: Memo on the Montgomery Bus Boycott, December 23, 1956 (Daybreak
of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott)
Montgomery possessed three features that are not found in other movements or efforts:
1. It was organized; used existing institutions as foundations so that all social strata of the
community were involved. It thus has the strength of unity, which the school integration efforts
have lacked, thereby leaving the fight to heroic but isolated individuals. Montgomery could plan
tactics, seek advice and support, develop financial resources and encompass a whole
community in a crusade dominating all other issues. The reason there were those who did not
want to give up the boycott is due in part to the consciousness that this welding of a
comprehensive, unified group has a quality not to be lost. The fellowship, the ideals, the joy of
sacrifice for others and other varied features of the movement have given people something to
belong to which had the inspiring power of the Minute Men, the Sons of Liberty, and other
organized forms which were products of an earlier American era of fundamental change.
2. The actions of the people won the respect of their enemy. The achievement of unity, the
intelligence of planning, the creation of a competent complex system of transportation, the
high level of moral and ethical motivation, all combined to give the closed mind of the white
southerner an airing that it has never had. It is not only the Negroes’ self-respect which has
won—but the respect of white people, who though they retain a basic prejudice, have lost
something in the course of this year that begins their long struggle to genuine understanding. In
short, Montgomery has contributed to the mental health and growth of the white man’s mind,
and thus to the entire nation.
3. Montgomery was unique in that it relied upon the active participation of people who had a
daily task of action and dedication. The movement did not rely exclusively on a handful of
leaders to carry through such fundamental change.
Pass into Class
Directions: Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. Put your name at the
top of the paper. This is due the next time our class meets.
1. Based on the reading above, which of these three reasons do you believe was the
most important to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott? Explain.
2. Do you think that the bus boycott was an effective way to create social change? Why
or why not?
3. How was the Moyyntgomery Bus Boycott different than the acts of African American
resistance we have studied so far in this unit?
4. Speculate: how do you think the Montgomery Bus Boycott influenced the struggle
for civil rights that was to follow it?