FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Wendi Lewis, Marketing and Public
Relations Manager
wendi.lewis@ahc.alabama.gov, 334-230-2680
April 30, 2021
Restored Vintage Greyhound Bus to be unveiled at
Freedom Rides 60th
Anniversary Event
(Montgomery, AL) – The Freedom Rides Museum, a
historic property of the Alabama Historical Commission, will hold a ceremony
commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides on Tuesday,
May 4, at 10 a.m. At the event, the museum will debut a restored Greyhound bus
of the vintage that would have been in service during the Freedom Rides.
The event date is significant, coinciding with the day 60 years
ago that the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Freedom Riders left Washington,
D.C. traveling to New Orleans to protest segregated bus terminals. The Freedom
Rides, which took place throughout the South that summer, would ultimately lead
the Interstate Commerce Commission into issuing regulations prohibiting
segregation in interstate transit terminals in the fall of 1961, under pressure
from the Kennedy administration.
“As we celebrate the arrival of the restored Greyhound Bus and its
symbolic representation of the courage of the Freedom Riders, we also
commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Rides and their impact on
equal rights for all Americans,” said AHC Commission Chairman Eddie Griffith.
“The Freedom Rides Museum has hosted past reunions of the Freedom Riders who
gathered to share their stories and we are honored again to have Dr. Bernard
Lafayette, Jr., return for this commemoration.”
A highlight of the ceremony will be the unveiling of a restored
vintage Greyhound Bus, which was in operation during the Freedom Rides. The bus
will become part of the museum’s permanent exhibit and a mobile extension of
the museum’s exhibits, featuring a soundscape exhibit, interpretive banners and
a vintage suitcase exhibit.
The program will include one of the student Freedom Riders
attacked at the Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station on May 20, 1961, Dr. Bernard
Lafayette, Jr., along with representatives from other sites in the City of
Montgomery that played a role in the Freedom Rides such as First Baptist
“Brick-a-Day” Church, City of St. Jude, and the Harris family along with
officials from the AHC, other local, state and federal officials, and the
Friends of the Freedom Rides Museum.
The event also marks the 10th anniversary of the
opening of the Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery. The Museum is housed in the
historic Greyhound Bus Station where the Freedom Riders arrived here on their
journey for justice.
“The Freedom Rides Museum is an integral part of this important
story,” said Lisa D. Jones, AHC Executive Director and State Historic
Preservation Officer. “History happened here. Preserving this place helps bring
to life a critical part of the civil rights story, and the role Montgomery and
the state of Alabama played in it.”
The Freedom Rides Museum is a historic property
of the Alabama Historical Commission. For more information, visit www.ahc.alabama.gov.
About the Freedom Rides Museum
Working with concerned citizens, The Alabama
Historical Commission saved the Greyhound Bus Station from demolition in the
mid-1990s. The Museum is located at 210 S. Court Street, at the intersection of
S. Court St. and Adams Avenue in downtown Montgomery. An award-winning exhibit
on the building's exterior traces the Freedom Riders' history. It uses words
and images of the Freedom Riders, those who supported them, and those who
opposed them. Interior exhibits highlight additional information on the Freedom
Riders and the way in which buildings were designed for racial segregation.
Today, the Alabama Historical Commission operates this significant site.
About the Alabama Historical Commission
Located in historic downtown Montgomery at 468 S.
Perry Street, the Alabama Historical Commission is the state historic
preservation agency for Alabama. The agency was created by an act of the state
legislature in 1966 with a mission to protect, preserve and interpret Alabama’s
historic places. AHC works to accomplish its mission through two fields of
endeavor: Preservation and promotion of state-owned historic sites as public
attractions; and, statewide programs to assist people, groups, towns, and
cities with local preservation activities. For a complete list of programs and
properties owned and operated by the AHC, hours of operation, and admission
fees please visit ahc.alabama.gov
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