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 great sites:

• James Farmer Memorial Home Page
• Freedom Rides on "Welcome to African-American History"
• Sit-ins, Freedom Rides and Demonstrations on the African American Odyssey Exhibit at the Library of Congress' site