Civil rights activists called “freedom riders” rode on interstate buses around the segregated South on “freedom rides” to test results of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia from 1960. In that case, the Court sided with Boynton and mandated all interstate facilities were allowed to be used by any citizen regardless of their ethnicity.
The first freedom ride left Washington D.C. on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17. But riders were arrested for trespassing, unlawful assembly and violating state and local Jim Crow laws. Most of the subsequent rides were sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality as well as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The freedom rides followed on the heels of dramatic "sit-ins" and boycotts against segregated restaurants and the like, which were conducted by students and youth throughout the South.
During their journey, the original group of 13 freedom riders grew to almost 450. The freedom rides established great credibility between Blacks and Whites throughout the country, as people of all colors became motivated to engage in direct action for civil rights. Perhaps most significantly, freedom riders impressed Blacks living in rural areas throughout the South who later formed the backbone of the Civil Rights Movement. This credibility inspired many subsequent civil rights campaigns such as voter registration, freedom schools and the Black Power Movement.
Notable freedom riders of 1961 included: Diane Nash, James L. Farmer, William Mahoney, John Lewis, Jim Zwerg, James Peck, George Bundy Smith, Frederick Leonard and William Sloane Coffin, among others, totaling 436. About 75 percent were male, and that same percentage was under the age of 30; this was evenly divided between Black and White.
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