Joan Trumpauer Mulholland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joan Trumpauer Mulholland
|
|
|---|---|
Joan Mulholland in 2013
|
|
| Born |
Joan Trumpauer
September 14, 1941 Washington, D.C., U.S.
|
| Education | |
| Known for | Freedom Riders |
| Children | 5 |
Joan Trumpauer Mulholland (born September 14, 1941) is an American civil rights activist. She was very active in the 1960s. She was one of the brave Freedom Riders who were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi in 1961. She spent two months in a tough prison called "Parchman Farm."
The next year, she became the first white student to attend Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. She also worked as a local secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). After she retired from teaching, Joan started the Joan Trumpauer Mulholland Foundation. This foundation teaches young people about the Civil Rights Movement and how they can make a difference in their own communities.
Early Life and Growing Up
Joan Mulholland was born Joan Trumpauer in Washington, D.C.. She grew up in Arlington, Virginia. Her family had lived in the South for a long time.
Joan went to a Presbyterian church and Sunday school regularly. She learned important lessons there, like "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." She saw that these lessons were very different from the unfair segregation around her.
When she was a child, Joan visited family in Georgia. She and a friend dared each other to walk into a Black neighborhood. Joan later said this experience changed her. She saw how people in the Black community seemed to "shrink back" and become "invisible." This showed her that they felt they were not as good as white people.
At age 10, Joan understood the big differences in how Black and white people lived. She promised herself that she would help the Civil Rights Movement if she ever could.
Her desire to fight for civil rights caused problems with her mother. Joan wanted to go to a small church university. But her mother was afraid of schools that allowed both Black and white students. Instead, her mother made her apply to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Joan went to Duke for a year. But she felt she needed to do more with her life. She left Duke and started working with the Nonviolent Action Group from Howard University.
Becoming an Activist
At Duke University, Joan quickly became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. In the spring of 1960, she took part in her first sit-in. A sit-in is a peaceful protest where people sit in a public place and refuse to leave. This was unusual for a white Southern woman. After her first arrest, some people thought she was mentally ill.
Joan was very clever. She would hide crumpled paper in her skirt's ruffled hem. She used this paper to write a secret diary about her experiences in jail. In her diary, she wrote about the food and how they sang almost all night. She also noted that even the jail cells were segregated. She wished she was with the Black girls instead of the white ones.
Joan felt supported by some teachers at Duke. But the university leaders pressured her to stop her activism. She decided to leave Duke in the fall.
Freedom Riders and Prison Time
In the summer of 1961, Joan joined the historic Freedom Riders. This group of Black and white activists rode buses through the South. They wanted to challenge unfair laws that separated people by race on buses and in bus stations.
One of the most dangerous stops was in Anniston, Alabama. On Mother's Day, two Freedom Rider buses were attacked and set on fire. The riders were beaten by townspeople. Many thought the Freedom Rides would end. But instead, more riders were called to join.
Joan Mulholland was one of these new riders. She traveled with other activists like Stokely Carmichael. They took a train to Jackson, Mississippi. In Jackson, Joan and other Freedom Riders were arrested for refusing to leave a bus waiting area. They were taken to Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Penitentiary. This prison had a bad reputation.
Joan was 19 years old at the time. She refused to pay bail, which would have let her out of prison. She wanted to stay and protest the unfair system. At Parchman, the women were given rough, black-and-white striped clothes. Joan felt very alone because she was separated from her friends.
The women were held on death row for two months. Joan recalled that 17 women were in a small cell, with only a tiny space for each person. Many Freedom Riders stayed in jail for about a month. But Joan had no plans until school started. So, she served her two-month sentence. She also stayed longer to work off a $200 fine. Each day in prison took three dollars off her fine.
Tougaloo College and New Friends
After Joan was released from prison, she decided to do something bold. She enrolled in Tougaloo College in Jackson. This was a historically Black college. She was the first white student to attend Tougaloo. She thought, if white people riot when Black students go to white schools, what will they do if a white student goes to a Black school?
At Tougaloo, Joan met important leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. These included Medgar Evers, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Anne Moody. When Dr. King visited Tougaloo to give a speech, Joan was the one who walked him to the building where he spoke.
While Joan was at Tougaloo, crosses were sometimes burned on campus. This was a scary sign from groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Local police were also worried about a white woman like Joan being at a Black school. There were attempts to close Tougaloo, but the school stayed open.
Joan received many letters threatening her. Her parents tried to get her to leave Tougaloo by offering her a trip to Europe. She went with them for the summer. But as soon as they returned, she went right back to Tougaloo College.
Jackson Woolworth's Sit-in
On May 28, 1963, Joan took part in another important sit-in. This protest was at the lunch counter of the Woolworth's store in downtown Jackson. She was one of 14 activists. They were protesting racial segregation, which meant Black people were not allowed to sit at the same counters as white people.
The activists were attacked during the sit-in. People in the crowd beat them and threw food on them. They also yelled "communist" at them. Joan saw a fellow student, Memphis Norman, being kicked on the floor. Later, Joan sat down at the counter next to Anne Moody and Pearlena Lewis.
The crowd became more violent. Joan saw a man with a knife near Anne Moody. Joan herself was lifted by her waist and dragged out of the store by her hair. Anne Moody was also dragged out. Joan's attacker was arrested, and she was allowed to go free. She bravely returned to the lunch counter.
The sit-in ended when the president of Tougaloo College contacted Woolworth's main office. The store manager was told to close the store. A reporter named Bill Minor said this sit-in was a very important event in Jackson's protest movement. It was the first time there was real violence.
March on Washington
On August 28, 1963, Joan Mulholland attended the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. She traveled to Washington, D.C., with Anne Moody and Reverend Ed King and his wife. This was a huge event where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
Just a few days after the March on Washington, a terrible event happened. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) set off a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. This happened just before Sunday morning service. The bomb injured 15 people and killed four children. Joan took a piece of glass from the explosion. She glued it to wood and made a necklace. She also carried a piece of the glass in her wallet for many years.
Meeting Michael Schwerner
Joan Mulholland helped prepare Michael Schwerner and his wife, Rita, for what it was like to be white activists in Mississippi. The very next day, Michael Schwerner was killed. He was murdered along with James Chaney and Andrew Goodman. Joan knew that nothing she could have said would have prevented this tragedy.
Later Life and Legacy
After her activism, Joan worked at several government places. These included the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Department of Justice. She later taught English as a second language.
Joan Mulholland is now retired and lives in Virginia. She has five sons. Because of her brave actions, she faced challenges from her family and others. Her mother worried she had joined a "cult." Her father was very concerned about her safety.
Documentaries and Foundation
Joan's son, Loki Mulholland, made an award-winning documentary film about her. It is called An Ordinary Hero: The True Story of Joan Trumpauer Mulholland (2013). In 2017, Loki released another documentary called The Uncomfortable Truth. This film looked at his family's history and its role in racism in America.
The Joan Trumpauer Mulholland Foundation is dedicated to teaching young people about the Civil Rights Movement. It also teaches them how to make a positive difference in their communities. The foundation wants to provide learning materials for schools. Joan hopes to help young people recognize racism and work to end it.
Public Appearances
Joan Mulholland often travels to show her documentary and talk with students. She answers their questions. She has also appeared on TV shows. She was interviewed on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee for a segment about Black History Month.
Joan has also appeared on her son's TikTok page (@lokimulholland). This page also shares information about her foundation.
Images for kids
-
Joan Mulholland in 2013
-
Joan Trumpauer (Mulholland) in Jackson, Mississippi, 1961
