Tallahassee bus boycott facts for kids

The Tallahassee bus boycott was a protest in Tallahassee, Florida. People stopped riding city buses to fight against segregation. Segregation meant that Black and white people were kept separate. This included rules about where people could sit on buses and who could work as bus drivers.

On May 26, 1956, two students from Florida A&M University, Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, were arrested. They were arrested for sitting in a part of the bus that was usually for white people. After this, local Black leaders like Robert Saunders from the NAACP and Reverend C. K. Steele started talking with city officials. The Black community then began to boycott the buses.

The boycott ended on December 22, 1956. Soon after, on January 7, 1957, the city changed its bus rules. This happened because of a big decision by the United States Supreme Court called Browder v. Gayle (1956). This ruling said that bus segregation was against the law.

What Happened

Before the boycott, buses in Tallahassee had strict segregation rules. White riders sat at the front of the bus. Black riders had to sit at the back. If there were no empty seats in the back for Black riders, they had to stand. This was true even if there were empty seats in the front. Also, if more white riders got on, Black riders sometimes had to give up their seats.

The Arrest of Two Students

Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson got on a city bus. They sat in the only open seats, which were next to a white woman. The bus driver told them they could not sit there. Jakes said she would get off if she got her bus fare back. The driver refused to give her money back.

Instead, the driver drove to a gas station and called the police. The police then arrested the two students. Later that day, the Dean of Students helped them get out of jail.

Community Reacts

The day after the arrests, a scary incident happened near the students' home. News of this quickly spread around their college campus. Student leaders called a meeting to talk about what had happened. They decided that students should stop using the bus company. They also wanted students to encourage the whole community to join the boycott.

Reverend Steele, a leader in the NAACP, organized a big community meeting that night. At this meeting, a new group was formed called the Inter-Civic Council (ICC). This group brought together the NAACP, a group of ministers, and a local civic league. The ICC was created to help the community protest safely. Its leaders held weekly meetings and worked hard for civil rights.

Boycott Continues

After three months of the boycott, one of the demands was met. The bus company started hiring Black bus drivers. Even after the Supreme Court ruled against bus segregation, the city still tried to keep people separated. They made a rule that assigned seats on buses. This led to more arrests of Black people who did not sit where they were told.

But people kept fighting against these unfair rules. Slowly, the rules became less strict, and Black people started riding the buses again.

In 1959, members of the Tallahassee InterCivic Council rode the buses to see if they were truly integrated. They found that people of all races were now riding together successfully.

How the Boycott Started

A researcher named Lewis Killian noted something interesting about this boycott. The community leaders and groups did not plan the protest from the start. Instead, the students began the boycott on their own. This shows how quickly the protest began.

The boycott started when the Black community in Tallahassee was not fully ready for such a big protest. The creation of the ICC shows how new ways of organizing can appear during important times. While groups like the Black church and the NAACP were important in the Civil Rights Movement, the Tallahassee Bus Boycott also created its own new ways to fight for change.

The Tallahassee boycott was different from the famous Montgomery bus boycott. The Montgomery boycott was carefully planned by active people and groups. The Tallahassee boycott, at least at first, was not planned in the same way and did not copy the Montgomery model.