CONTENTS
Chapter
1
Foreword
1
Introduction
4
World Map
10
The History of the Montgomery
Bus Boycott
1. An Overview of the Montgomery Bus
Boycott
13
J. Mills Thornton III
In December 1955, an African American
seamstress and activist named Rosa Parks
refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery,
Alabama, public bus to a white man, as local
law required. Her arrest sparked a citywide
boycott of Montgomery buses that attracted
nationwide attention.
2. The Montgomery Bus Boycott Was a Key
Moment in the Civil Rights Movement
21
U•X•L Encyclopedia of U.S. History
From 1954 to 1965, African American activists and tens of thousands of ordinary citizens of all ethnic backgrounds took part in a
nationwide civil rights movement that helped
result in new laws guaranteeing equality.
Events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott
were major signposts in the movement by
helping, among other things, to make famous
such leaders as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
PMWHMBB_Final.indd 5
10/20/11 9:25 AM
Master
Final
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
3. Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat 31
Douglas Brinkley
The event that sparked the Montgomery Bus
Boycott was the arrest of activist Rosa Parks.
A writer and historian details the refusal of
Parks, tired from her day’s work, to give her
seat on a bus to a white man, her subsequent
arrest, and how she quickly drew the attention
of local civil rights leaders.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
4. Montgomery’s Activists State Their
Grievances
42
Citizen’s Mass Meeting
At a meeting at the Holt Street Baptist Church
in Montgomery shortly after Rosa Parks’s
arrest, African American activists and citizens
commit themselves to a boycott of the city’s
bus system and make their motivations and
goals clear.
5. White People Had Varied Reactions
to the Montgomery Bus Boycott
47
David Halberstam
A historian examines how the white people
of Montgomery initially responded to the boycott. He also considers the way media coverage influenced the event.
6. Rosa Parks’s Example Traveled Across
the Atlantic to Great Britain
58
Robert Verkaik
The 1955–56 Montgomery Bus Boycott helped
to inspire a 1963 bus boycott in the English
city of Bristol. A journalist notes how Paul
Stephenson, who instigated the Bristol boycott,
cited Rosa Parks as an important predecessor.
PMWHMBB_Final.indd 6
Final
10/20/11 9:25 AM
Master
7. The Legacy of Rosa Parks Is Clear in
Contemporary Montgomery
Nancy Snow
A university professor notes, during a visit
to Montgomery, Alabama, in 2010, that the
actions of one woman, Rosa Parks, helped to
bring about many changes. Among the signs
of these changes are the monuments to Parks
that have arisen in her home city.
Chapter
2
64
Controversies Connected to the
Montgomery Bus Boycott
1. Rosa Parks Changed the World
Ellen Goodman
At the time of Rosa Parks’s death in 2005,
a columnist writes of Parks’s contributions
to the civil rights movement and notes that
her legacy in advancing the role of women
remains underappreciated.
70
2. Rosa Parks Was Not the First to
Refuse to Move
75
Gary Younge
A British journalist examines the story of
Claudette Colvin, who refused to abandon her
seat on a Montgomery bus nine months before
the incident involving Rosa Parks. Colvin,
however, was thought to be too young and
unrespectable to be at the center of a protest
movement.
3. Martin Luther King Jr. Was Always
Committed to Nonviolence
94
Deanna Proach
Martin Luther King Jr., a young Montgomery
PMWHMBB_Final.indd 7
10/20/11 9:25 AM
Master
Final
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
pastor, used his training in and commitment
to nonviolent protest tactics in his leadership of the bus boycott and later civil rights
efforts.
4. King Dedicated Himself to Nonviolent
Protest Because of Violent Events in
Montgomery
100
Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Thernstrom
Two historians argue that, although he was
a student of the nonviolent protest tactics of
such leaders as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin
Luther King Jr. only adopted them wholeheartedly because of violent events during the
Montgomery boycott.
5. The Supreme Court Affirms That
Segregation on Montgomery’s Buses Is
Unconstitutional
108
Luther A. Huston
In June 1956, an Alabama district court panel
determined in Browder v. Gayle that segregation on Montgomery’s buses was a violation of
constitutional rights. The US Supreme Court
agreed in a decision made in November 1956
that paved the way for the end of the boycott.
6. A Judge Argues That Segregation on
Montgomery’s Buses Should Not
Be Outlawed
113
Seybourne H. Lynne
In a dissenting opinion in Browder v. Gayle,
an Alabama district court judge uses his
understandings of legal precedents and states’
rights to suggest that the constitutional rights
of African Americans are not violated by
­segregation.
PMWHMBB_Final.indd 8
Final
10/20/11 9:25 AM
Master
7. The Bus Boycott Changed
Montgomery Forever
120
Wilma Dykeman and James Stokely
Two writers explain that, by maintaining the
boycott and not getting drawn into violence,
Montgomery’s African American community
won a great, life-altering victory.
8. Victory in the Bus Boycott Did Not End
Segregation in Montgomery
131
Randall Kennedy
A history professor argues that, while the
boycott ended legal segregation on the buses,
other kinds of segregation continued and were
even reinforced after the boycott was over.
9. The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Continues to Inspire Nonviolent Protests
Around the World
136
Hazel Trice Edney
A journalist notes that the 2011 protests
in Egypt, which resulted in the ouster of
President Hosni Mubarak, were helped along
by the publication of Arabic-language stories
about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Chapter
3
Personal Narratives
1. Rosa Parks Recalls the Day She
Became Defiant
Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins
The woman who inspired the Montgomery
Bus Boycott remembers how her desire to
keep her seat on a bus resulted in her arrest
and how her case came to the attention of
local civil rights leaders.
PMWHMBB_Final.indd 9
143
10/20/11 9:25 AM
Master
Final
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
2. A Montgomery Bus Boycott Leader
Remembers Its Inspirations and
Challenges
149
Ralph David Abernathy
Montgomery Baptist minister Ralph David
Abernathy recalls the beginning of the boycott, including his role and that of other religious leaders, notably Martin Luther King Jr.
3. A White Minister Remembers the
Beginning of the Montgomery Bus
Boycott
161
Robert S. Graetz
When the Montgomery Bus Boycott was
taking shape in the beginning of December
1955, a white minister at the Trinity Lutheran
Church, which served a mostly African
American congregation, decided to take an
active and supportive part.
4. The Montgomery Bus Boycott and
Christmas 1955
171
Jo Ann Gibson Robinson
A leading Montgomery activist recalls how
the boycott caused h
­ ardships to protesters as
well as to Montgomery’s merchants during the
Christmas season.
5. The Memories of a Twelve-Year-Old
Montgomery Girl
179
Janell McGrew
A woman remembers bus segregation and
taking part in the long boycott to end it. She
was inspired by her parents, her grandparents,
and her community as a whole.
PMWHMBB_Final.indd 10
Final
10/20/11 9:25 AM
Master
Chronology
183
For Further Reading
187
Index
190
PMWHMBB_Final.indd 11
10/20/11 9:25 AM
Master
Final
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37