Courage Under Fire
Courage under fire
65th Anniversary of the Anniston Bus Bombing
On Mother’s Day of 1961, a small group of nonviolent activists known as the Freedom Riders were violently attacked by a white mob at the Greyhound Depot in Anniston, AL.
The interracial group of protesters traveled south from Washington D.C., testing the enforcement of the Supreme Court decisions that prohibited discrimination in interstate travel. They stopped at various bus stations along the way, angering many white southern segregationists.
On May 14, 1961, the Freedom Riders arrived in Anniston, Alabama to find the doors of the Greyhound Station locked.
A gang of white racists, led by Ku Klux Klan leader William Chapel, ambushed their bus. Armed with bats, chains, and pipes, the attackers smashed windows and slashed tires, damaging the bus in an attempt to intimidate the riders.
Though law enforcement had been warned about the racist mob’s plan, they didn’t arrive on the scene until after the attack started. Afterward, while seemingly escorting the bus to safety, officers abandoned the bus at the Anniston city limits where another armed white mob surrounded the bus and continued the attack. One of the members threw a firebomb through a broken window with the Freedom Riders still inside. As the riders escaped the flames and explosion, they were violently beaten as highway patrolmen watched.
The Freedom Riders survived the attack, and within a few hours, were transported to Birmingham, AL by a convoy organized by civil rights leader Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth.
Images of the attack made headlines around the world, drawing attention to the Freedom Rider cause.
The Courage Under Fire Exhibit
The Courage Under Fire exhibit features images that documented the violence perpetuated against the Freedom Riders. The black and white photographs allow visitors to reflect on the roles of violence, law enforcement, and press during the Freedom Rides.
Courage Under Fire is one of the BCRI’s traveling exhibits and is available for rental. For more information about this and other traveling exhibits, email archives@bcri.org.