MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                               

Contact: Dorothy Walker, Site Director, The Freedom Rides Museum

dorothy.walker@ahc.alabama.gov, 334-230-2676

March 1, 2022

The Freedom Rides Museum presents “Freedom Ride Friday Noon Perspectives” program in honor of Women’s History Month

(Montgomery, AL) – The Freedom Rides Museum, a historic property of the Alabama Historical Commission, will present a series of virtual conversations each Friday at Noon in honor of Women’s History Month beginning Friday, March 4th at 12 pm. To join the event, visit the Freedom Rides Museum Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheFreedomRidesMuseum.

This year, The Freedom Rides Museum will present a series of conversations with women who were either involved in the Freedom Rides or whose history intersected with the Freedom Riders. Unlike Civil Rights Movement campaigns prior to 1960, women were involved in the leadership of the Freedom Rides and made up approximately 50% of the Riders themselves.

Tune in each week to hear a virtual conversation between the museum Site Director, Dorothy Walker, and a featured speaker who has made significant contributions to the history of the Freedom Rides. Walker states that, “Each March, the museum features and honors the significant sacrifices and commitment that women made to the Freedom Rides and to the Civil Rights Movement. Their struggle for equality not only extended to the larger society but also within the movement itself. The museum is honored to present this series of conversations to further promote the powerful, meaningful and impactful history that women have helped to shape for generations.”

On Friday, March 4, the Freedom Rides Museum’s first Friday conversation will be with Freedom Rider Joan C. Browning. Browning is a writer and lecturer who lives in West Virginia. Her autobiographical writings include an article published in the Fall 1996 Journal of Women’s History, “Invisible Revolutionaries: White Women in Civil Rights Movement Historiography” and “Shiloh Witness,” a chapter in the book Deep in Our Hearts: Nine White Women in the Freedom Movement. Browning writes and lectures about growing up four miles from one of the South’s most rabid racist politicians and about finding her way into the 1960’s civil rights movement in the Deep South. She was expelled from Georgia State College for Women during her junior year for attending services at a local Black church. She took a job with the library at Emory University where she got involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Browning participated in the sit-in movement, picketed segregated stores and facilities, and was on the Albany Freedom Ride on December 10, 1961. She was the last Freedom Rider to be released from jail.

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  

###