Montgomery Bus
Boycott
By: Sydney Mayhew and Amanda Miner
“The starting point”
The montgomery boycott is considered the starting point of the American Civil
Rights Movement:
First community action to bring national attention
Large scale
Community- wide
Lead to Martin Luther King speaking out
Lead to many other protests & demonstrations in decades to come
Not technically the very start
Charles Hamilton Houston fought:
Segregation - schools and transportation
lynching
1946 - Irene Morgan v. the Commonwealth of Virginia
“Segregation of interstate bus travel unconstitutional”
1947 - Congress of Racial Equality
“Freedom rides”
Seriously it wasn’t the start
1953 - bus boycott in Baton Rouge, Louisiana - led to partial integration of city
buses
1953 - Montgomery, Alabama - Women's Political Council - bus’s racial policies to
no effect
1955: March 2 - Claudette Colvin (15)
April - Aurelia S Browder
October - Mary Louise Smith
December 1 - Rosa Parks
Aurelia S Browder
Mary Louise Smith
Irene Morgan v. The
Commonwealth of Virginia
1946
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks
Born:February 4, 1913 - Tuskegee, Alabama
Died: October 24, 2005 (92)- Detroit, Michigan
-Had one brother and lived on a farm with her mother, brother and grandparents
-Was exposed from a young age to racism - KKK
-Couldn’t ignore the racism in society
WHat makes Rosa’s stand
special?
Worked actively in civil rights for two decades
1932 - Raymond Parks founded - Montgomery NAACP chapter
1943 - 2nd failed attempt to vote - refused to leave the bus - kicked off
12 years later - same driver
1955 - Rosa parks arrested
→ Dec 5 WPC organised a one day bus boycott - Success!
The Boycott
-In Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 the buses required segregation of African
Americans and Whites
-African Americans were tired of the way that they were treated and they wanted
more rights
-40,000 African-American bus-riders boycotted the system the day after Rosa
Parks was arrested
-MLK was elected 1929 as the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church as President and
decided to continue the boycott
African American demands
1.  A pledge from the city and bus company that African Americans would be treated with
courtesy
2.  Reise the city code: seating white Americans from front to back and African Americans
from back to front - no reserved areas
3.  Hire African American drivers for routes that carried all/ mostly African American
passengers
-The third demand was to make the first two seem mild-
“We are not asking for an end to segregation. That’s a matter for the
legislature and the courts… All we are seeking is justice and fair treatment
in riding the buses” - Martin Luther King Jr.
Until demands were met
-African Americans represented 75 percent of Montgomery’s bus riders
-Even with the boycott, the city did not address to their demands and pleas
-The boycott continued and black leaders organized carpools and African
Americans taxi drivers charged around 10 cents for African American taxi riders
-Others walked to their desired locations
Montgomery Improvement
association
-Formed on December 5, 1955(MIA)
after the arrest of Rosa Parks
-The MIA controlled the Montgomery bus boycott
-They fought for desegregation
-Black ministers and community leaders formed the MIA
-MLK Jr. was the President (at 27), L. Roy Bennett was the First Vice President,
Moses W. Jones was Second Vice President, Erna Dungee was Financial
Secretary, and many other secretaries and treasurers
MIA Continued
-They focused on one main goal - busses and a longer boycott
-This was the first organization of it’s kind
-Was in the South
-The MIA also helped find alternate rides for African Americans who were
boycotting the buses
-MLK made sure to maintain the boycott and keep the protest as peaceful as
possible
MIA After The Boycott
-Boycott lasted till December 20th 1956 - city leaders ended the policy of
segregated busses
-After they reached their goal of desegregating the buses, the MIA participated in
student sit-ins, voter-registration drives and other various civil rights protests
during 1969
Resistance to the montgomery
boycott
-The majority of African Americans took action by boycotting, however not all did
-Other African Americans were afraid to participate in the boycott, because of the
violence others inflicted on those protesting
-They also had to support their families and it made it quite difficult to find
transportation to and from work, while supporting the boycott
Resistance to the montgomery
boycott
-Cops inflicted drasticcontinued
measures in order to attempt to prevent people from
boycotting
-Many were shot, beaten, arrested, abused, threatened and more all in attempt to
conduct a peaceful protest
White Citizens Council
-In 1963 the KKK and White Citizens Council
-A group of white individuals formed protests against the idea of desegregation
Martin Luther King Jr.
-MLK Jr. received national attention that resulted in MLk being one of the prime
leaders of the cause
Advancement of the civil rights
movement
-President Dwight D. Eisenhower was a strong advocate for civil rights
-He ordered to end segregation “in the District of Columbia, including the federal
government, and any segregation in the armed forces”
-Congress began the process of enacting the first Civil Rights bill since the 1880s
Advancement of the civil rights
movement
-“It helped to launch a 10-year national struggle for freedom and justice, the
Civil Rights Movement, that stimulated others to do the same at home and
abroad”
-Roberta Wright
-Civil Rights groups grew quickly and had more confidence
-Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
-People began to truly stand up for what they believed in
Impact on MLk Jr
-January 1956 (During the boycott) his house was bombed
-He was stabbed with a letter opener at a signing
-Although he had hundreds of death threats towards him, he kept striving for what he
believed in
-He continued to be an avid member of his church
-MLK gave multiple speeches across the nation
-MLk’s words of wisdom gave hope to hundreds of Civil Rights activists
-The boycott made MLK Jr. a national figure - promoting non-violent resistance
Final impact of the boycott
-Started on December 1, 1955 and ended after 13 months
-U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional
-November 13, 1956
-One of the first accomplishments for the U.S. Civil Rights
Final impact of the boycott
-Transformed the attitude of African Americans
- From fear to defiance in the face of threats and brutality
-Showed that a united African American community could successfully challenge
Jim Crow
-Lead to many more movements/ protests in other southern cities
Sources in mla format
"Montgomery Bus Boycott - History Learning Site." History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2016. <http://
www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-civil-rights-movement-in-america-1945-to-1968/montgomery-bus-boycott/>.
"Morgan v. Virginia (1946)." Morgan v. Virginia (1946). N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2016. <http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/
morgan_v_virginia>.
Rogers, Mark, and Peter Clinton. Rights and Protest IB History Course Book. N.p.: Oxford Univ Pr, 2015. Print.
Article Title: Montgomery Bus Boycott
Website Title: History.com
URL: http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott
Article Title: Montgomery Improvement Association
Website Title: Montgomery Improvement Association
URL: http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_montgomery_improvement_association/
Article Title: Montgomery Improvement Association (1955–1969) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed
Website Title: Montgomery Improvement Association (1955–1969) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed
URL: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/montgomery-improvement-association-1955-1969