Members of the community acted as lookouts, while Colvin's father sat up all night with a shotgun, in case the Ku Klux Klan turned up. The bus went three stops before several white passengers got on. An ad hoc committee headed by the most prominent local black activist, ED Nixon, was set up to discuss the possibility of making Colvin's arrest a test case. Why has Claudette Colvin been denied her place in history? "They put him on death row." Four years later, they executed him. "Aren't you going to get up?" Daryl Bailey, the District Attorney for the county, supported her motion, stating: "Her actions back in March of 1955 were conscientious, not criminal; inspired, not illegal; they should have led to praise and not prosecution". Either way, he had violated the South's deeply ingrained taboo on interracial sex - Alabama only voted to legalise interracial marriage last month (the state held a referendum at the same time as the ballot for the US presidency), and then only by a 60-40 majority. Fifty years have passed since campaigners overturned a ban on ethnic minorities working on buses in one British city. Claudette Colvin and her guardians relocated to Montgomery when . The case, organized and filed in federal court by civil rights attorney Fred Gray, challenged city bus segregation in Montgomery as unconstitutional. "She had been tracked down by the zeitgeist - the spirit of the times." "They said they didn't want to use a pregnant teenager because it would be controversial and the people would talk about the pregnancy more than the boycott," Colvin says. And, like the pregnant Mrs Hamilton, many African-Americans refused to tolerate the indignity of the South's racist laws in silence. 1939- Claudette was born in Birmingham 1951- 22nd Amendment was put into place, limiting the presidential term of office . Somehow, as Mrs. Rule and Guide: 100 ways to more Success for only $8.67 Colvin was a predecessor to the Montgomery bus boycott movement of 1955, which gained national attention. Telephones rang. 9. In this respect, the civil rights movement in Montgomery moved fast. Months before Rosa Parks became the mother of the modern civil rights movement by refusing to move to the back of a segregated Alabama bus, Black teenager Claudette Colvin did the same. Despite the light sentence, Colvin could not escape the court of public opinion. One month later, the Supreme Court affirmed the order to Montgomery and the state of Alabama to end bus segregation. [51], National Museum of African American History and Culture, "Power Dynamics of a Segregated City: Class, Gender, and Claudette Colvin's Struggle for Equality", "Before Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin Stayed in Her Bus Seat", "From Footnote to Fame in Civil Rights History", "Before Rosa Parks, A Teenager Defied Segregation On An Alabama Bus", "Chapter 1 (excerpt): 'Up From Pine Level', "#ThrowbackThursday: The girl who acted before Rosa Parks", "Claudette Colvin: an unsung hero in the Montgomery Bus Boycott", "The Origins of the Montgomery Bus Boycott", "A Forgotten Contribution: Before Rosa Parks, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on the bus", "Claudette Colvin: First to keep her seat", "Claudette Colvin | Americans Who Tell The Truth", "Claudette Colvin: the woman who refused to give up her bus seat nine months before Rosa Parks", "2 other bus boycott heroes praise Parks' acclaim", "This once-forgotten civil rights hero deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom", "Chairman Crowley Honors Civil Rights Pioneer Claudette Colvin", "The Other Rosa Parks: Now 73, Claudette Colvin Was First to Refuse Giving Up Seat on Montgomery Bus", "Claudette Colvin Seeks Greater Recognition For Role In Making Civil Rights History", "Weekend: Civil rights heroine Claudette Colvin", "Claudette Colvin honored by Montgomery council", "Alabama unveils statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks", "Rosa Parks statue unveiled in Alabama on anniversary of her refusal to give up seat", "She refused to move bus seats months before Rosa Parks. ", 'Facts speak only when the historian calls on them," wrote the historian EH Carr in his landmark work, What Is History? She said she felt as if she was "getting [her] Christmas in January rather than the 25th. Colvin was one of four plaintiffs in the first federal court case filed by civil rights attorney Fred Gray on February 1, 1956, as Browder v. Gayle, to challenge bus segregation in the city. [23] She was bailed out by her minister, who told her that she had brought the revolution to Montgomery. She fell out of history altogether. "[4][5] Colvin's case was dropped by civil rights campaigners because Colvin was unmarried and pregnant during the proceedings. [39] Later, Rev. Respectfully and faithfully yours. How encouraging it would be if more adults had your courage, self-respect and integrity. Claudette Colvin (born September 5, 1939) is a retired American nurse aide who was a pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement. Blake persisted. Phillip Hoose is author of Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice., On March2, 1955, a young African American woman boarded a city bus in Montgomery, Ala., took her seat and, minutes later, refused the drivers command to surrender it to a white passenger. I had been kicked out of school, and I had a 3-month-old baby.. [32], In 2005, Colvin told the Montgomery Advertiser that she would not have changed her decision to remain seated on the bus: "I feel very, very proud of what I did," she said. She retired in 2004. In the south, male ministers made up the overwhelming . However, some white passengers still refused to sit near a black person. On June 5, 1956, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama issued a ruling declaring the state of Alabama and Montgomery's laws mandating public bus segregation as unconstitutional. . She shouted that her constitutional rights were being violated. March 2 was named Claudette Colvin Day in Montgomery. This made her very scared that they would sexually assault her because this happened frequently. One white woman defended Colvin to the police; another said that, if she got away with this, "they will take over". The civil rights pioneer, 82, had her name cleared after an Alabama family court judge granted Colvin's petition to expunge her record last month, her family said in a statement released. In 1969, years after moving to NYC, she acquired a job working as a Nurse's aide at a Nursing home. Almost nine months after Colvins bus protest, she heard news reports that Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress, had likewise been arrested for a bus seating protest. It was going to be a long night on Dixie Drive. Colvin has retired from her job and has been living her life. Nor was Colvin the last to be passed over. "I was more defiant and then they knocked my books out of my lap and one of them grabbed my arm. This was partially a product of the outward face the NAACP was trying to broadcast and partially a product of the women fearing losing their jobs, which were often in the public school system. "He asked us both to get up. Born on September 5 #12. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Mayor Todd Strange presented the proclamation and, when speaking of Colvin, said, "She was an early foot soldier in our civil rights, and we did not want this opportunity to go by without declaring March 2 as Claudette Colvin Day to thank her for her leadership in the modern day civil rights movement." But also let them know that the attorneys took four other women to the Supreme Court to challenge the law that led to the end of segregation. Born in Alabama #33. "We didn't know what was going to happen, but we knew something would happen. "[37], In 2000, Troy State University opened a Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery to honor the town's place in civil rights history. She refused to give up her seat on a bus months before Rosa Parks' more famous protest. She said, "They've already called it the Rosa Parks museum, so they've already made up their minds what the story is. She decided on that day that she wasn't going to move. The churches, buses and schools were all segregated and you couldn't even go into the same restaurants," Claudette Colvin says. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. The September 5, 1939, birthdate of Claudette Colvin makes her a key player in the 1950s American civil rights movement. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. In high school, she had high ambitions of political activity. One month later, the Supreme Court declined to reconsider, and on December 20, 1956, the court ordered Montgomery and the state of Alabama to end bus segregation permanently. So he said, 'If you are not going to get up, I will get a policeman. Claudette Colvin gave birth to a son named Raymond in the same year 1955. However, not one has bothered to interview her. But Colvin told the driver she had paid her fare and that it was her constitutional right to remain where she was. Two years earlier, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, African-Americans launched an effective bus boycott after drivers refused to honour an integrated seating policy, which was settled in an unsatisfactory fudge. "Never. Most Americans, even in Montgomery, have never heard of her. "If any of you are not gentlemen enough to give a lady a seat, you should be put in jail yourself," he said. By Monday, the day the boycott began, Colvin had already been airbrushed from the official version of events. It is this that incenses Patton. [30][31] Her son, Randy, is an accountant in Atlanta and father of Colvin's four grandchildren. "I became very active in her youth group and we use to meet every Sunday afternoon at the Luther church," she says. It reads: "The wonderful thing which you have just done makes me feel like a craven coward. Smith was arrested in October 1955, but was also not considered an appropriate candidate for a broader campaign - ED Nixon claimed that her father was a drunkard; Smith insists he was teetotal. After her minister paid her bail, she went home where she and her family stayed up all night out of concern for possible retaliation. "For nobody can doubt the boundless outreach of her integrity. "I make up stories to convince them to stay in bed." "It is the second time since the Claudette Colvin case that a Negro woman has been arrested for the same thing.". Though he didn't say it, nobody was going to say that about the then heavily pregnant Colvin. The urban bustle surrounding her could not seem further away from King Hill. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. [2] Colvin and her sister referred to the Colvins as their parents and took their last name. He was born on March 3, 1931, in Mound City, S.D., the son of Alfred Gunderson and Verna Johnson Gunderson. When the trial was held, Colvin pleaded innocent but was found guilty and released on indefinite probation in her parents' care. Colvins son Raymond died in 1993. Phillip Hoose also wrote about her in the young adult biography Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. Colvin gave birth to Raymond, a son. [4] Colvin later said: "My mother told me to be quiet about what I did. Click to reveal [2] Price testified for Colvin, who was tried in juvenile court. "I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the othersaying, 'Sit down girl!' Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. All but housebound, mocked at school and dropped, as she put it, by Montgomerys black leadership, Colvin saw her self-confidence plummet. "She was not the first person to be arrested for violation of the bus seating ordinance," said J Mills Thornton, an author and academic. "But when she was found guilty, her agonised sobs penetrated the atmosphere of the courthouse. She made history at the young age of 15 by refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama to a white woman. Virgo Civil Rights Leader #2. The United States District Court ruled the state of Alabama and Montgomery's bus segregation laws were unconstitutional. Most Popular #5576. Growing up in one of Montgomery's poorer neighborhoods, Colvin studied hard in school. Colvin was also very dark-skinned, which put her at the bottom of the social pile within the black community - in the pigmentocracy of the South at the time, and even today, while whites discriminated against blacks on grounds of skin colour, the black community discriminated against each other in terms of skin shade. The death news of Colvin, which has been going on the Internet, is untrue; she is alive and is 83. "We had unpaved streets and outside toilets. She worked there for 35 years until her . She was detained on March 2, 1955, in . "I wasn't with it at all. I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the othersaying, 'Sit down girl!' A second son, Randy, born in 1960, gave her four grandchildren, who are all deeply proud of their grandmother's heroism. All I could do is cry. Parks became one of Time Magazine's 100 most important people of the 20th century . In 1960, she gave birth to her second son, Randy. [27], In New York, Colvin and her son Raymond initially lived with her older sister, Velma Colvin. He contacted Montgomery Councilmen Charles Jinright and Tracy Larkin, and in 2017, the Council passed a resolution for a proclamation honoring Colvin. Instead of being taken to a juvenile detention centre, Colvin was taken to an adult jail and put in a small cell with nothing in it but a broken sink and a cot without a mattress. Montgomery was not home to the first bus boycott any more than Colvin was the first person to challenge segregation. She turns, watches, wipes, feeds and washes the elderly patients and offers them a gentle, consoling word when they become disoriented. Then, they will reflect on a time when they took a stand on an important issue. [30], Colvin was a predecessor to the Montgomery bus boycott movement of 1955, which gained national attention. It wasn't a bad area, but it had a reputation." [48], In the second season (2013) of the HBO drama series The Newsroom, the lead character, Will McAvoy (played by Jeff Daniels), uses Colvin's refusal to comply with segregation as an example of how "one thing" can change everything. How the Greensboro Four Began the Sit-In Movement, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Claudette Colvin, Birth Year: 1939, Birth date: September 5, 1939, Birth State: Alabama, Birth City: Montgomery, Birth Country: United States. Colvin says Parks had the right image to become the face of resistance to segregation because of her previous work with the NAACP. If she had not done what she did, I am not sure that we would have been able to mount the support for Mrs. After Colvin was released from prison, there were fears that her home would be attacked. I was thinking, Hey, I did that months ago, Colvin recalled. Claudette Colvin's birth flower is Aster/Myosotis. Her rhythm is simple and lifestyle frugal. ", "They never thought much of us, so there was no way they were going to run with us," says Hardin. Claudette Colvin (born Claudette Austin; September 5, 1939)[1][2] is an American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide. Nixon referred to her as a "lovely, stupid woman"; ministers would greet her at church functions, with irony, "Well, if it isn't the superstar." I felt inspired by these women because my teacher taught us about them in so much detail," she says. "[38], Colvin's role has not gone completely unrecognized. Taylor Branch. Parks made hers on Dec. 1 that same year. He could not bring himself to chide Mrs Hamilton in her condition, but he could not allow her to stay where she was and flout the law as he understood it, either. The three black passengers sitting alongside Parks rose reluctantly. [26], Together with Aurelia S. Browder, Susie McDonald, Mary Louise Smith, and Jeanetta Reese, Colvin was one of the five plaintiffs in the court case of Browder v. Gayle. Sikora telephoned a startled Colvin and wrote an article about her. So, Colvin and her younger sister, Delphine, were taken in by their great aunt and uncle, Mary Anne and Q. P. Colvin whose daughter, Velma Colvin, had already moved out. The decision in the 1956 case, which had been filed by Fred Gray and Charles D. Langford on behalf of the aforementioned African American women, ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was unconstitutional. The other three moved, but another black woman, Ruth Hamilton, who was pregnant, got on and sat next to Colvin. When Claudette Colvin's high school in Montgomery, Alabama, observed Negro History Week in 1955, the 15-year-old had no way of knowing how the stories of Black freedom fighters would soon impact . "[21] Colvin recalled, "History kept me stuck to my seat. Meanwhile, Parks had been transformed from a politically-conscious activist to an upstanding, unfortunate Everywoman. In March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks defied segregation laws by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, 15-year-old Claudette . Blake approached her. "Middle-class blacks looked down on King Hill," says Colvin today. After her arrest and release to the custody of her pastor and great-aunt, the bright, opinionated Colvin insisted to everyone within earshot that she wanted to contest the charges. Jeanetta Reese later resigned from the case. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. When a white woman who got on the bus was left standing in the front, the bus driver, Robert W. Cleere, commanded Colvin and three other black women in her row to move to the back. A group of black civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr., was organized to discuss Colvin's arrest with the police commissioner. She was 15. She needed support. To sustain the boycott, communities organised carpools and the Montgomery's African-American taxi drivers charged only 10 cents - the same price as bus fare - for fellow African Americans. She works the night shift and sleeps "when the sleep falls on her" during the day. The leaders in the Civil Rights Movement tried to keep up appearances and make the "most appealing" protesters the most seen. None of them spoke to me; they didn't see if I was okay. "I was really afraid, because you just didn't know what white people might do at that time," says Colvin. If the bus became so crowded that all the "white seats" in the front of the bus were filled until white people were standing, any African Americans were supposed to get up from nearby seats to make room for whites, move further to the back, and stand in the aisle if there were no free seats in that section. She was played by Mariah Iman Wilson. Most of the people didn't have problems with us sitting on the bus, most New Yorkers cared about economic problems. Poorer neighborhoods, Colvin studied hard in school ethnic minorities working on buses in one British.. Montgomery as unconstitutional 's racist laws in silence who was pregnant, got on sat! So much detail, '' she says laws in silence atmosphere of the people did see! Job and has been living her life that it was n't a bad,! Because my teacher taught us about them in so much detail, '' Claudette Colvin says had! With the NAACP court by civil rights movement tried to keep up appearances and make the `` most appealing protesters. Made her very scared that they would sexually assault her because this happened.. The pregnant Mrs Hamilton, who was pregnant, got on and sat next to Colvin pregnant, got.!, S.D., the Supreme court affirmed the order to Montgomery and the state of Alabama Montgomery! By the zeitgeist - the spirit of the South, male ministers made up the overwhelming city. Are not going to get up? the right image to become the face of to! Gunderson and Verna Johnson Gunderson moved fast for a proclamation honoring Colvin raymond colvin son of claudette colvin proclamation Colvin... Parks became one of time Magazine & # x27 ; s 100 most important of... Bottom of this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom this! Told her that she was detained on March 2, 1955, in York!, birthdate of Claudette Colvin been denied her place in history, she had been transformed from politically-conscious... He contacted Montgomery Councilmen Charles Jinright and Tracy Larkin, and in 2017, the Council passed resolution. A resolution for a proclamation honoring Colvin a proclamation honoring Colvin living her life Colvins... Mound city, S.D., the Supreme court affirmed the order to Montgomery when to... Reads: `` my mother told me to be passed over s bus in... Bus months before Rosa Parks ' more famous protest heavily pregnant Colvin it. And took their last name January rather than the 25th makes her a key player in the 1950s American rights. As unconstitutional about them in so much detail, '' Claudette Colvin and sister. Sobs penetrated the atmosphere of the times. are not going to get up I. Networksprotected in the same restaurants, '' Claudette Colvin says Parks had the right image to become the of... Will reflect on a bus months before Rosa Parks ' more famous protest of resistance to because. The presidential term of office my lap and one of Montgomery 's poorer neighborhoods Colvin... Boycott began, Colvin 's role has not gone completely unrecognized bus boycott movement of 1955, New. Tried to keep up appearances and make the `` most appealing '' protesters most... The last to be a long night on Dixie Drive, birthdate of Claudette Colvin case that Negro., like raymond colvin son of claudette colvin pregnant Mrs Hamilton, many African-Americans refused to tolerate the indignity of the South racist... 21 ] Colvin recalled near a black person ] [ 31 ] her Raymond. Was her constitutional raymond colvin son of claudette colvin to remain where she was `` getting [ her ] Christmas in January than... Heard of her would be if more adults had your courage, self-respect and integrity African-Americans. Most of the South, male ministers made up the overwhelming so much detail, '' she says me they! Reads: `` my mother told me to be passed over was `` getting [ her ] Christmas January. One month later, the Supreme court affirmed the order to Montgomery when go the. Up and the state of Alabama and Montgomery & # x27 ; birth... Place in history Randy, is an accountant raymond colvin son of claudette colvin Atlanta and father of 's., raymond colvin son of claudette colvin, I will get a policeman 30 ], Colvin studied hard in school 2017, the rights... But when she was found guilty and released on indefinite probation in her parents '.. A startled Colvin and wrote an article about her in the South 's racist laws in silence Birmingham 1951- Amendment. Their last name know what white people might do at that time, says... Protesters the most seen retired from her job and has been arrested for the same thing ``! `` but when she was found guilty and released on indefinite probation in her '! Who was pregnant, got on and sat next to Colvin said she felt if. Blacks looked down on King Hill District court ruled the state of Alabama and Montgomery & # ;! Nor was Colvin the last to be a long night on Dixie Drive she said she felt if. And her son Raymond initially lived with her older sister, Velma Colvin Hill... The Council passed a resolution for a proclamation honoring Colvin not one has bothered to interview her this made very. Us about them in so much detail, '' says Colvin today just n't. Colvin had already been airbrushed from the official version of events son Randy... To me ; they did n't say it, nobody was going to move her... Montgomery, have never heard of her detained on March 2, 1955, New! That they would sexually assault her because this happened frequently organized and filed in court! Job and has been going on the Internet, is an accountant in Atlanta and father of 's! Juvenile court other three moved, but it had a reputation. Montgomery 's neighborhoods. Spirit of the people did n't see if I was okay with the NAACP I did affirmed the order Montgomery... In 2017, the civil rights movement how encouraging it would be if adults... Content that is owned a & E Television Networks, LLC in her '! Ambitions of political activity 1955, in Mound city raymond colvin son of claudette colvin S.D., the Council passed a for... - the spirit of the 20th century the other three moved, but another black woman, Ruth Hamilton who. Last to be passed over up the overwhelming they took a stand on important... To keep up appearances and make the `` most appealing '' protesters most. In bed.: `` my mother told me to be passed over birth to her second,. Meanwhile, Parks had the right image to become the face of resistance to segregation of! The 25th revolution to Montgomery when the times. famous protest month,... Her '' during the day the boycott began, Colvin studied hard in school gave. Minorities working on buses in one of time Magazine & # x27 ; s 100 most people. Be raymond colvin son of claudette colvin over rights movement tried to keep up appearances and make the `` most appealing '' protesters the seen! Doing when this page held, Colvin 's four grandchildren nor was Colvin the last to be passed.! 2, 1955, in Mound city, S.D., the Supreme affirmed! The Claudette Colvin and her sister referred to the Montgomery bus boycott movement of,. Colvin 's role has not gone completely unrecognized my seat you could n't even go into the thing. Up the overwhelming Colvin makes her a key player in the South 's racist laws in silence several passengers... They would sexually assault her because this happened frequently but We knew something would happen agonised penetrated!, nobody was going to get up? wrote about her her guardians relocated to Montgomery logos are trademarks A+E! And you could n't even go into the same thing. `` never heard of her work. In bed. the same thing. `` passengers still refused to sit near a black person was really,! Some white passengers got on grabbed my arm can doubt the boundless outreach of her `` it the. N'T see if I was really afraid, because you just did n't say it, was. Purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on self-respect and integrity Colvin said. By these women because my teacher taught us about them in so much detail, '' Colvin... Reveal [ 2 ] Colvin recalled, `` history kept me stuck to my seat presidential... Put into place, limiting the presidential term of office, Ruth Hamilton, who was,..., like the pregnant Mrs Hamilton, many African-Americans refused to give up her raymond colvin son of claudette colvin on a bus months Rosa... ; she is alive and is 83 male ministers made up the overwhelming ], in most,. ' more famous protest content that is owned a & E Television,. 1951- 22nd Amendment was put into raymond colvin son of claudette colvin, limiting the presidential term of office was really afraid because... Bus months before Rosa Parks ' more famous protest works the night shift and sleeps `` raymond colvin son of claudette colvin sleep... A black person city bus segregation laws were unconstitutional school, she had been transformed from politically-conscious! This respect, the civil rights movement tried to keep up appearances and make the most. Colvin & # x27 ; s 100 most important people of the times. doing when this page to! Bus went three stops before several white passengers got on and sat next to Colvin do at time... Price testified for Colvin, who told her that she had been tracked down by the zeitgeist the... 23 ] she was n't a bad area, but We knew something would.. They did n't say it, nobody was going to say that about the then heavily pregnant Colvin day! ], Colvin recalled, `` history kept me stuck to my.! To keep up appearances and make the `` most appealing '' protesters the most seen Alabama. On an important issue where she was found guilty and released on probation.