Meet the Freedom Riders

In the spring of 1961, a small interracial band of “Freedom Riders” set out to challenge discriminatory state laws and local customs that required a separation of the races on buses and in bus station facilities, such as waiting areas, lunch counters, and restrooms. Their journey was dramatically opposed by white supremacists who viciously attacked the Freedom Riders on multiple occasions.
Through the media, the nation and the world witnessed the violence. Images, like that of a firebombed bus burning outside Anniston, Alabama, shocked the American public. Although only thirteen Freedom Riders started the journey, they inspired hundreds of others to join their cause. In the end there were over four hundred Freedom Riders. Come hear their stories directly from a panel of Freedom Riders.