Montgomery, Alabama

In 1955, Montogmery was the site of one of the most important Civil Rights protests in the history of America – The Montgomery Bus Boycott. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a White person. At the time, African-Americans did not have the same rights as White people, and Parks was arrested. Her arrest mobilized the city’s African-American residents to stage a boycott ( a refusal to ride the buses) led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Rather than riding buses, the protesters rode bicycles, walked, or carpooled. On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Alabama’s bus segregation law as unconstitutional, and African-Americans gained the right to sit wherever they wanted. The boycott ended in Decmeber of 1956.

United States Landmarks