Old Greyhound Bus Station-Site of the Arrest of the Freedom Riders, 1961
Introduction
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The Old Greyhound Bus Station is now an architect’s office and the site of a Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker commemorating the history of the building. The Trailways Bus Station was demolished in 1976 to construct the Davis Planetarium.
Black Freedom Riders have breakfast at a lunch counter in the bus station in Montgomery, Ala., on May 24, 1961. It was the first time the eating facilities were used by Black travelers. The group was preparing to board buses bound for Jackson, Miss.
The Alabama state troopers and National Guardsmen escorted the bus to the Mississippi state line and then departed. Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett warns the Freedom Riders to "obey the laws of Mississippi."
Fifteen Freedom Riders that arrived on a second bus in Jackson, Miss., are loaded into a paddy wagon at the bus station, May 24, 1961. They entered the "whites only" waiting room and were arrested for being in violation of state laws.
The Freedom Riders were taken to Parchman Prison's maximum security unit. After their arrival at the prison, the Freedom Riders were subject to strip searches, beating, and hard labor.
Backstory and Context
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