60 years later, read one of the first stories about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man. Although the story is now ingrained in American history, at the time, it barely received a mention in a local newspaper.

It wasn't until a few days later, on Dec. 5, that the nation first heard the name "Rosa Parks." It was then that The Associated Press wrote about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the $14 fine that Parks received for "having disregarded... a driver's order to move to the rear of the bus." To mark the 60th anniversary of this civil rights milestone, AP made its initial story on the boycott available once again.

As the article explains, in 1955 Montgomery, "Negro passengers ride in the rear of buses here, white passengers in front under a municipal segregation ordinance." AP quoted a boycott spokesman as saying it would last until bus riders were no longer "intimidated, embarrassed, and coerced." Parks, described as a "42-year-old department store seamstress," was first charged with "violating a city ordinance that gives bus drivers police powers to enforce racial segregation," and after appealing her fine was released under a $100 bond; her lawyers would not tell AP if they "planned to attack the constitutionality of segregation laws affecting public transportation." The manager of City Lines Buses, which operated the buses in Montgomery, told AP he estimated "80 or maybe 90 percent" out of the "several thousands Negroes" who usually rode the bus joined the boycott. Read the article in its entirety here.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up