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In May of 1961, various civil rights
activists organized what they called the "Freedom Rides" to test the
1955 Interstate Commerce Commission ruling prohibiting segregation
in interstate travel accommodations including waiting rooms, buses,
snack bars and seating. An excellent synopsis of
the Freedom Rides on The Virtual Scholar outlines the various
attempts including the one which ended on May 24, 1961 at the
Greyhound Bus Station in Jackson, Mississippi, the furthest the
riders progressed to their destination of New
Orleans.
This Greyhound station in Jackson was
the destination of the second Freedom Riders' bus on May 24,
1961.
The first bus, from Trailways, was met
by the police upon arrival where the interracial group of riders
were arrested, based on their attempts to use the restrooms and
white waiting area as permitted by the ICC's order. Their
crime? Disturbing the peace! It was a shameful day in
American history as those arrests were permitted by Robert Kennedy,
then the US Attorney General, as part of a deal to maintain both
order and police presence that day. Upon arriving at the
Greyhound station, James Farmer, a civil rights activist and head of
the Council on Racial Equality (CORE), on the same charges
along with the other fifteen Freedom Riders on the bus.
At this point, following the Freedom
Rides and the encirclement for hours of a Montgomery, Alabama
African-American church, Robert Kennedy asked the Freedom Riders for
a "cooling off period" to allow passions to calm in the South.
James Farmer retorted, "[W]e'd been cooling off for 350 years, and .
. . if we cooled off any more, we'd be in a deep freeze." As
the summer of 1961 wore on, the Freedom Rides continued until Jim
Crow's back was broken by a more stringent ICC
order requiring desegregated interstate travel
accommodations and facilities.
Crossing Paths With An American
Hero: Knowing how there are still some people out there with
active and enduring hatred towards those active or previously active
in the civil rights area, I stopped in the "bus station" to tell the
present occupants who I was and that I had taken a picture of their
building. The receptionist said, "Oh, Mr Adams would love to
talk to you." Out comes Mr Robert Adams, an architect, who now
owns the building. I explained who I was and pulled out my
copy of Weary Feet, Rested Souls to show him his building's write-up
and photograph. Mr Adams had not seen the book before and was
very impressed. He also told me he was a civil rights
demonstrator who was detained with hundreds of other people in the
animal pens at the State Fairgrounds. Mr Adams joked they had
called the place the Jackson Hilton. I shook hands with Mr
Adams and told him I considered him a hero, but he waved off my
compliment. He told me he restored the building to its
previous Greyhound Art Deco appearance including the flashing neon
greyhound sign and the blue and grey decor inside. The
building is gorgeous, looking from the outside like it is 1961 minus
buses. Greyhound Bus Company architects had recently toured
the building to draw some ideas for future use on other
stations. I'm pretty sure some bookstore in town got a sale
that day from Mr Adams for Weary Feet, Rested
Souls!
For more information, visit these
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