Beyond Rosa Parks:

The Montgomery Bus

Boycott
The Civil Rights & Women Movements
Learning Target: Evaluate various methods
and philosophies to bring about social
justice during the Civil Rights Movement.

Success Criteria:
Identify the methods and philosophies used during the
various movements for civil rights.
Explain how the methods and philosophies used by civil
rights leaders lead to social change.
Textbook Excerpt on the Bus Boycott

Taken from our USH Textbook -

HMH Social Studies
 On your half Who started the bus boycott?

sheet… Why/when did it start?

Write a 1-2 sentence summary Who was responsible for

of the bus boycott using the organizing it?
guiding questions to the right.
 Can you identify these two
people?
Can anyone name these women?
 Can anyone name these women?

Jo Ann Robinson Claudette Colvin Mary Fair Burks Mary Louise Smith Aurelia Browder
Today you will learn the real story of the Montgomery
Bus Boycott

"Young people think Rosa

Parks just sat down on a bus
and ended segregation, but
that wasn't the case at all."
- Claudette Colvin
 Each group will receive 1 of the 4 primary sources
regarding the bus boycott. It is your table’s job to
identify what we can learn about the bus boycott
from your given document. You will write what you
discussed on the board in 15-20 minutes.

As you read be thinking about the 5 W questions

- Who is telling the story?
- Why was the boycott happening?
- What methods are they using?
- When is this taking place?
- Where is this happening?
What discoveries did your group make?
Background of the Montgomery WPC (Women’s
Political Council)
- Founded in 1946 by Mary Fair
Burks (received her Master’s degree at Michigan State)

- Head of the
Lit Dept at
Alabama State
(an HCBU) when
she was
arrested
without cause.
By 1950, Jo Ann Robinson was the President
of the WPC
- Colleague of Mary Fair
Burks & Professor at
Alabama State
- Robinson warned the
Mayor of Montgomery
about a possible bus
boycott
June 1953, Nation’s First Bus Boycott
wins a partial victory in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana
Black riders were still not
permitted in the first two rows but
gained access to more of the bus
seats. The WPC in Montgomery
started to plan.

Baton Rouge Montgomery

June 1953, Nation’s First Bus Boycott
wins a partial victory in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana
Black riders were still not
permitted in the first two rows but
gained access to more of the bus
seats. The WPC in Montgomery
started to plan.

Jo Ann Robinson paid careful attention to the

Baton Rouge free carpool organization. Even if
people don’t ride the bus, they still need to get
to work. The carpool organization was key to
any boycott’s success.
 Claudette Colvin’s Arrest: March 2,
- 1955
15 year old high school student had just spent the
previous month learning about Black History in
school
- When a policeman ordered her to move from her
bus seat, she said she “felt glued” to the seat by
the power of Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth
- At first, this appeared to be the arrest that the
WPC and NAACP had been waiting for
 Claudette Colvin’s Arrest: March 2,
1955
- The Secretary of the local NAACP reached out to
Colvin and invited her to speak to a NAACP youth
group
- The secretary of the NAACP was a 42 year old
woman and she and Colvin became close
- Colvin became the leader of the local NAACP
youth group
 Claudette Colvin’s Arrest: March 2,
1955
- The Secretary of the local NAACP reached out to
Colvin and invited her to speak to a NAACP youth
group
- The secretary of the NAACP was a 42 year old
woman and she and Colvin became close
- Colvin became leader of the NAACP youth group
- The NAACP Secretary’s name was Rosa Parks
June 1955
- Local Black leaders find out that the 15
year old Claudette Coleman is pregnant.

- It is decided that she will not become

the face of the movement. Local leaders
began looking for an older woman who
was married and had lighter skin.
Spring and Summer 1955
Three more women are
arrested for refusing to
give up their seat on a
Montgomery Bus.

The NAACP and WPC

were still hesitant to act

Aurelia Browder Susie McDonald Mary Louise Smith

Success Criteria What kind of methods are these
young women using?

Reminder…
How might these things lead to
social change (think of Baton
Rouge)?
Fall 1955 - The Murder of Emmett Till
The world is shocked and
outraged as international
press covers the lynching
of a 14 year old boy in
Mississippi.

His murderers were

identified in court but
found not guilty within
hours by an all white Jury.

Rosa Parks said Till was on

her mind while she rode
the bus on December 1st.
From there, you know the story...
Parks is arrested on December 1st, the WPC and
NAACP spring into action.

Jo Ann Robinson stays up all night copying fliers for

the boycott.

The plan was 1 day but it was so successful that it

lasted 381 days.

A young minister named Martin Luther King was

called in to be the public face for the new media.

It would have been impossible without the carpool

organization of the WPC.
Browder v. Gayle, 1956

Ironically, the busing segregation was ended by a Supreme Court case in the
name of these four women. Surely the boycott put pressure on the courts,
but technically, the bus boycott was not what ended the busing segregation.
I now want you to look back at your summary
from earlier on your half sheet of paper. I
want you to rewrite an more accurate
depiction of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts
that we could put in a textbook. Make sure to
incorporate our new information from the
sources you read& the powerpoint.