Old Greyhound Bus Station-Site of the Arrest of the Freedom Riders, 1961
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
This former Greyhound Bus Station was the site of an important event during the Civil Rights era. On May 24, 1961, a group of 27 Freedom Riders (both white and black students) arrived at the station and were immediately arrested and charged with trespassing into the whites-only room. The incident attracted national attention and encouraged others to go on Freedom Rides throughout the South. The interior of the station has been beautifully renovated to appear as it might have during WWII. There is a mural that appears to have changed the word "Colored" with baggage, apparently seeking to distance the station from that day. Beyond a historic marker outside the building, there is little inside the restored station (which now serves as the office of an architectural firm) to remind visitors of the 1961 Freedom Rides that made this bus station famous. That history appears below through images and links to articles, books, and videos.
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio