Frederick Leonard (activist) facts for kids

Frederick Leonard was an American activist who played an important role in the civil rights movement. This movement worked to end unfair treatment and segregation against African Americans in the United States.

Fighting for Civil Rights

Frederick Leonard joined the fight for civil rights when he was a student at Tennessee State University. In 1960, he took part in the Nashville sit-ins. During these sit-ins, people would sit at lunch counters that only served white customers. They did this peacefully to protest unfair rules.

In 1961, Leonard also joined a Freedom Ride. These rides involved groups of people, both Black and white, who rode buses together into Southern states. They wanted to challenge unfair laws that kept bus stations segregated.

On May 17, 1961, Leonard was on a Freedom Ride from Nashville to Birmingham. He remembered that when their bus arrived in Montgomery, a group called the Ku Klux Klan was there. They were known for their robes and for being violent. Even though the police were with the Freedom Riders, the situation felt dangerous.

When the bus reached the terminal in Birmingham, the police suddenly disappeared. The station looked empty and strange. Then, a large, angry crowd appeared with sticks and bricks. The riders were trapped inside the bus. They had to decide whether to leave from the back, hoping it would be safer, or face the crowd directly from the front.

A white rider named Jim Zwerg bravely decided to exit the bus first. He faced the crowd alone. Leonard believed that Zwerg's courage helped save him and the other Black riders on the bus. After this, Leonard, along with two other riders, Lafayette and Cason, managed to escape. They went to the home of Fred Shuttlesworth in Birmingham to find safety.

More Experiences in the Movement

Later that same night, after the difficult Freedom Ride, there was a rally at a church in Birmingham. Leonard and the other riders attended. They were worried because they heard that the Ku Klux Klan was looking for them. To stay safe, someone suggested they hide in the church choir. So, the riders quickly put on choir robes and started singing. When the Klan members came into the church, they didn't see the riders and soon left.

A few days later, on May 24, 1961, Leonard joined another Freedom Ride. This time, they were headed to Jackson, Mississippi. When they arrived, many police officers were at the bus station. Surprisingly, Leonard and the other Black riders were allowed to walk through the "white only" part of the station. This was very unusual for Mississippi at the time.

However, after walking through, the riders were told to go straight into a police car. They were then taken to jail. The next day, they went to court. When their lawyer, Jack Young, tried to defend them, the judge turned his back to the wall. After the lawyer finished speaking, the judge turned back and quickly sentenced the men to 60 days in Parchman State Penitentiary. Leonard later said that the men and women in the prison sang for hours because they were only allowed to have one book, the Bible.

Personal Life

Frederick Leonard was born on August 11, 1942. He later married Joy Reagon, who was also a Freedom Rider. After his arrest and court case, Leonard and his wife moved to Detroit to start a new life. They later had a child. Leonard worked at the Chrysler car factory before moving back to Nashville.

In Nashville, he started his own successful business. He sold Afro hair picks from a building on Jefferson Street. His company sold hair picks to drug stores all over the Northeast.

Honors for Freedom Riders

In 2008, Frederick Leonard and fourteen other Freedom Riders were honored by Tougaloo College (TSU). The college gave them honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees. This was to recognize their courage in 1961 when they chose to be expelled from college rather than give up their fight for freedom and equality for the Black community.

TSU also thanked the Tennessee Board of Regents for correcting a past wrong by honoring these brave individuals.