Women's Political Council facts for kids

The Women's Political Council (WPC) was an important group in the Civil Rights Movement. It started in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1946. The WPC worked to fix unfair racial problems in the city. Key members included Mary Fair Burks, Jo Ann Robinson, Irene West, Thelma Glass, and Uretta Adair.

The WPC was the first group to officially ask for a boycott of the bus system. This happened during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which began in December 1955. The group worked hard in the early 1950s to get better treatment for Black bus riders. They helped organize how people would communicate to start the boycott. They also supported it by giving rides to people who were not using the buses. Black citizens in Montgomery kept the boycott going for over a year. It ended in late December 1956. This happened after the United States Supreme Court said that bus segregation laws were against the Constitution. The court ordered the state to end segregation on public transportation.

Starting the WPC: A Group for Change

The Women's Political Council (WPC) began in 1946. It was a group for African-American professional women in Montgomery, Alabama. Mary Fair Burks, who led the English department at Alabama State University, started the group. About 40 women joined the first meeting.

Most WPC members were teachers. They worked at Alabama State College or in Montgomery's public schools. The group wanted to encourage Black middle-class women to get involved in their community. They also worked to help people register to vote. Many African Americans faced unfair tests to vote. The WPC taught adults how to read and write. This helped them pass the voting tests.

One successful program was "Youth City." This event taught Black high school students about politics and government. It showed them what democracy should mean. During elections, the WPC worked with another group, the League of Women Voters. They helped inform Black citizens about people running for office.

Jo Ann Robinson Leads the Way

In 1949, Jo Ann Robinson joined the WPC. She was a new English professor at Alabama State College. She had a bad experience with segregated bus seating herself. Because of this, Robinson became WPC president in 1950. She decided the group should focus on changing bus seating rules.

Under her leadership, the WPC grew quickly. Within a month, they had over 100 members. Soon, they had more than 300 members in three different chapters. They had members in every school and in many workplaces. All of these members were registered to vote.

As president, Robinson studied the problem of bus segregation. Most bus riders in Montgomery were Black. But they faced unfair rules. WPC members spoke to the City Commission. They told them about problems on the buses. For example, Black riders who got on first often had to give up their seats for white riders later. The commission seemed surprised but did nothing.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott Begins

Black women in Montgomery often felt disrespected on the buses. One day, Jo Ann Robinson sat in the white section of a bus by mistake. The bus driver yelled at her, which made her cry. These unfair treatments were why the WPC was formed.

In the early 1950s, WPC leaders met with Mayor W. A. Gayle. They also met with the city commission. They asked for changes to the bus system. They complained that the city did not hire Black bus drivers. They said that separate seating was unfair. They also pointed out that bus stops in Black neighborhoods were farther apart. Even though Black people were the main riders, they had worse service.

The WPC did get the city to hire its first Black police officers. But they made no progress on bus segregation. Robinson and other WPC members met with bus company officials. The officials said segregation was a city and state law. The WPC did win one small change: buses would stop at every corner in Black neighborhoods, just like in white areas.

In May 1954, the Supreme Court made the Brown v. Board of Education decision. This ruling said that separate schools for Black and white children were illegal. Soon after, Robinson wrote a letter to Mayor Gayle. She said that Black groups were getting ready for a bus boycott.

By 1955, many people were unhappy with the segregated bus system. The WPC decided they would start a boycott when the right person was arrested.

The Spark: Rosa Parks' Arrest

In March 1955, Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old student, was arrested. She refused to give up her seat on a bus. The WPC and other civil rights groups talked about a boycott. Colvin's arrest made the Black community angry and united. However, they decided not to use her as the main person for the boycott for other reasons.

Then, in December 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested. She was the secretary of the local NAACP chapter. Parks, the NAACP, and the WPC all agreed that she would be the perfect person to lead a boycott.

On December 2, 1955, about 50 people met in the basement of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Rosa Parks told her story. The group decided to start a one-day bus boycott on Monday, December 5.

The one-day boycott was a huge success. About 70 percent of Montgomery's bus riders were Black, and most stayed off the buses. Because of this success, the group decided to continue the boycott.

Organizing the Boycott

The night Rosa Parks was arrested, Jo Ann Robinson called other WPC leaders. They agreed it was the right time for a bus boycott. Parks was a respected activist. She was seen as the perfect symbol to unite the community.

Robinson stayed up all night. She used a mimeograph machine at Alabama State College to make 35,000 flyers. These flyers asked Black people to boycott the buses on Monday, December 5. Robinson did not put her name or the WPC's name on the flyers. She worried that officials would cut funding to the college if they knew she used their machine. Thelma Glass and her students helped distribute the flyers.

By Friday night, everyone in the city knew about the planned boycott. Local ministers and civil rights leaders met that night. They announced the boycott for Monday. Some ministers were unsure about getting their churches involved. But they decided to hold a big meeting on Monday night. There, they would decide if the boycott should continue.

The one-day boycott was so successful that organizers decided to keep it going. They formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to lead the boycott. They chose Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. as president. Jo Ann Robinson was on the MIA's executive board. She also edited their newsletter. She stayed out of the spotlight to protect her job and her colleagues at Alabama State College. Robinson and other WPC members helped the boycott by giving rides to many people.

Boycott Victory

On February 1, 1956, lawyers filed a lawsuit called Browder v. Gayle. This case was for five women who had been arrested for defying bus segregation. On June 13, 1956, a panel of three judges ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional. The case then went to the US Supreme Court.

On December 17, 1956, the Supreme Court agreed with the lower court's ruling. Three days later, they ordered the state to desegregate the buses.

The boycott showed the power of African-American organizing. It also brought attention to civil rights issues in Montgomery. Its success helped lead to more progress in the fight for civil rights.

After the Boycott: New Paths

After the boycott, some members of the WPC moved on.

What Happened to Key Members?

Jo Ann Robinson and Mary Fair Burks left Montgomery in 1960. This happened after some professors at Alabama State College were fired for their civil rights work. Robinson taught English in Louisiana and then in Los Angeles until she retired in 1976. She stayed active in many community groups. In 1987, Robinson wrote a book about the boycott. It was called The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It. Her book helped show the important role women played in the boycott.

Mary Fair Burks also resigned from Alabama State College in 1960. She then taught literature at the University of Maryland until she retired in 1986.

The WPC Changes

The success of the bus boycott and the rise of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) changed the WPC. The MIA was created to lead the boycott. This meant the WPC's main leadership role in the Black community became smaller.

However, older WPC members helped guide younger women. Robinson wrote that members felt young, concerned women would benefit from the WPC. They wanted to help them organize and choose goals for their future. It is not clear how much these younger women became involved in later civil rights work.