1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,280 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Daddy and I'm to bleed in Chuck Reporting. 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: And this September we are commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:25,600 Speaker 1: the Interstate Commerce Commissions ruling that all interstate bus and 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: train facilities in the US had to pull down signs 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: segregating whites and blacks. And it was the result of 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: summer long effort by a group that called themselves the 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: Freedom Writers to test laws that were already on the books. 10 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: But we're just largely ignored through many Southern states. So 11 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: picking up where we left off, the original core writers 12 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: have been badly beaten, traumatized, and essentially evacuated out of 13 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: Birmingham for New Orleans by a special assistant to Attorney 14 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: General Robert Kennedy. And it seemed like at this time 15 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: that the Freedom Ride that had started May four, nineteen 16 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: sixty one in d C was over at this point. Yeah, well, 17 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: and we should we should say too, Like, if you 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: are a listener who drops in on Random podcast, it 19 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: really is worth going back and checking out that first 20 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: episode because it will help give you the context you 21 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: need for this one is a part two, but we 22 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: left it a real cliffhanger there. That was that was 23 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: a crucial moment there in New Orleans defeated. It seems 24 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: the Kennedy's feel that things are wrapped up to their satisfaction, 25 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 1: but then suddenly they get news out of Nashville that 26 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: things aren't over at all. Right. Students in Nashville, many 27 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: of them were veterans of the lunch counter sit ins, 28 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: though still in their teens in early twenties, they decided 29 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: that the ride could not end in violence. So, spearheaded 30 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: by Diane Nash, who was a Fisk student, many members 31 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: of the Nashville student movement decided to skip their finals 32 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: and go to Alabama. Yeah, get on a bus and 33 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: they completely know what's at stake. This is the part 34 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: that's just crazy to me. They make their wills, these 35 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: young kids, and they board busses to Birmingham. Nash, who 36 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: coordinates the whole thing from home base in Nashville, basically 37 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 1: tells the Birmingham pasture, we're coming. Yeah, And I mean 38 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: the wills is the really shocking part. But the leaving 39 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: before finals is a really big deal too, because a 40 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: lot of these kids are the first members of their 41 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: family to go to college, but they decide that continuing 42 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: the freedom rides, not letting non violence and in violence 43 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: like this, is more important. So this time, though, the 44 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: makeup of the riders is a little different from the 45 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: first ride, which was all staged by the group Core. 46 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: It's still a mix of black and white men and women, 47 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: and they're taking Greyhound and Trailways busses just like before, 48 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: but they're all quite young this time. There were middle 49 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: aged folks retired people last time. Most of them now though, 50 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: are nineteen twenty. And there are also a lot more 51 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: Southerners in the group, so kids from Atlanta and Nashville, 52 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: of course, Charleston, Tampa, in addition to kids from other 53 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: parts of the country New York, Oklahoma, Illinois. It's it's 54 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: kind of a more diverse group in that sense. A 55 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,359 Speaker 1: strange thing happens when they get to Birmingham, though. When 56 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: the first bus arrives Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor, 57 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: who we mentioned in the last podcast, he lets the 58 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: regular passengers off, covers the window with paper and then 59 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: holds the remaining people on board, and finally, after they 60 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: sweat it out in the may heat for a while, 61 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,239 Speaker 1: they're let off and then they proceed to the White 62 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: waiting area and they're arrested that night. They're released from 63 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: jail and put into cars, which is very ominous, but 64 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: they drive right to the state line of Alabama and 65 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: Tennessee and they're told by Connor to get out and 66 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: make their way back to Nashville. From there, Tennessee State 67 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: University student Katherine Burke's Brooks tells Connor that we'll see 68 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: you back in Birmingham by high noon, So they're not 69 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: about to be put down, no, And and this is 70 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: still a scary situation though, that they've just been dropped 71 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: off the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. 72 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: They don't know if maybe there's some vigilante group the 73 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: Clan waiting for them on the other side of the border, 74 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: bullet Bull Connor is just handing them off, or what 75 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: they're gonna do. So they hide. They find shelter with 76 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: an older couple and by the next day nash has 77 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,039 Speaker 1: arranged from Afar a ride for them to get back 78 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: to Birmingham, and I don't think they make it by noon, 79 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 1: but they do make it back the next day. But 80 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: by the time they're back in Birmingham, the Nashville Riders 81 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: meet the second wave of their group. They are just 82 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: like last time, different buses traveling into Alabama, but there's 83 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: a problem. Besides Bull Connor in the threatening crowd, the 84 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:47,239 Speaker 1: bus drivers won't drive, so the riders are stuck there again. 85 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: They're stuck in Birmingham, and we mentioned this in the 86 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: last episode, individual bus drivers refusing to drive because they 87 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: were afraid they would get their bus set on fire 88 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: or be beaten or something. But in this case, the 89 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: entire union refusing to drive, so there's really no way 90 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: out of town again. So for the moment, it's looking 91 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 1: kind of hopeless, but the Kennedy administration finally pressures Alabama's 92 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 1: Governor John Patterson to promise protection or else face having 93 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: the National Guard called in, and so Patterson agrees to 94 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: provide state protection as the writers continue their trip to Montgomery, Alabama. Yeah, 95 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: we mentioned this American Heritage documentary in the last episode, 96 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: based on Raymond Arseno's book, and it really contained some 97 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: great interviews with former freedom writers. But it's worth watching, 98 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:37,160 Speaker 1: I think, just to see Katherine Burke's Brooks expression as 99 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: she recalls feeling relaxed enough to doze on the bush. 100 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: It's kind of an expression like what was I thinking, 101 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: mixed with total disappointment, a little sarcasm thrown in there. 102 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: It's it's a you should watch it just to see that. 103 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: But that feeling, that total relaxation, able to fall asleep 104 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: on the bus feeling, obviously doesn't last very long because 105 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: in Montgomery the state protection drops off, and they're thinking, well, 106 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: the city police will pick up protection, but nobody ever comes. 107 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 1: So here the bus is just rolling into Montgomery with 108 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: no one around them. Yeah, and John Seagan Thaler, Robert 109 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 1: Kennedy's assistant, the man who had been negotiating with the 110 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: governor about providing state protection. He remembered thinking, quote, I 111 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: knew suddenly betrayal, disaster, I hope not death. So he's 112 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: scared too. At this point, a mob of more than 113 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: two hundred weights at the Greyhound station for them. The 114 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: first target this time is the reporters and a cameraman 115 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: because the mob has seen how quickly these pictures get out, 116 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 1: not just in the South, not just in the United States, 117 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: but all over the world, and they don't want that 118 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: to happen again. So for a sense of what this 119 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: would have been like for the reporters, Time reporter Calvin Trillin, 120 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: who took part in the rise as a journalist, recently 121 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: wrote in The New Yorker that he'd tell his friend, 122 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: a life photographer, quote, when we get in one of 123 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,719 Speaker 1: the situations, At best, I don't know you. At worst, 124 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: I'm one of the people chasing you. Of course, the 125 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: writers were also very severely beaten. As a white writer, 126 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,480 Speaker 1: Jim's Work was quickly beaten, unconscious and kicked in the 127 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: face before going down. Though he remembered seeing men armed 128 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: with baseball bats, chains, hammers, and this is crazy, even 129 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: one guy with a pitchfork, so imagine that coming towards you. 130 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: Berks Brooks remembers women shouting with babies in their arms. 131 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: It was a spectacle. In addition to this really violent scene, 132 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: and John Lewis, who had been part of the original 133 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: core ride and had been actually attacked in South Carolina, 134 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: was hit in the head with a wooden crate, and 135 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: William Barbie had somebody try to drive a steel rod 136 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: through his ear, and even Sign Dollar, who was the 137 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: direct representative to the president, was hit with a pipe 138 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: trying to help one of the female Freedom writers and 139 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: he was knocked unconscious. So finally the police arrived they 140 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: broke up the crowd with tear gas. So the next 141 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: day May One sort of marks at turning point for 142 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: the freedom rides. The riders and fIF undred supporters filled 143 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: the First Baptist Church in Montgomery for a meeting, and 144 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: by this point Martin Luther King and the larger movement 145 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: really had to get involved in stand behind the riders, 146 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: even though, as we mentioned before, many were ambivalent about 147 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: the ride initially or even thought it would come out 148 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: hurting the movement, But after the violence that had had happened, 149 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: they had to all stand together and and support the ride, 150 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: And so Martin Luther King actually comes down to Montgomery 151 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: to meet up with everyone here at the church. Outside 152 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:41,959 Speaker 1: the church, though, a mom of three thousand gathers and 153 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: they're breaking windows, threatening to burn down the church. The 154 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: marshals that are set into control the crowd are just 155 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: random federal workers. They dispersed tear gas with the wind 156 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: blowing towards them and end up having to run away. 157 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: They just have little patches on their sleeves, not even uniforms. 158 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: So after that there's this night of phone calls. Martin 159 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: Luther King is on the phone with Robert Kennedy trying 160 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: to get him to do something. Robert Kennedy is on 161 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: the phone with Paterson, trying to get him to act. 162 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:11,440 Speaker 1: Martin Luther King even even gathers up a group of 163 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: committed nonviolent volunteers to leave the church and dissuade a 164 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: group of black cab drivers from using violence against the mom. 165 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: So they're still trying to stick to their principle of 166 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: non violence here. It's the best way for them to 167 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: hopefully get out of this situation too. So finally the 168 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: governor puts the city under martial law, and people in 169 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: the church are free, you know, the crowd has broken up. 170 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: They're free to go, and the Freedom Riders are also 171 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: free to continue under the protection this time of the 172 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: Alabama National Guard. So they hit the road heading towards Mississippi, 173 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: and at the border, the Mississippi National Guard takes over 174 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: with commands to take the bus right on through to Jackson, 175 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: no stops, no trouble, and it kind of seems like 176 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: they're out of the frying pan into the fire here. 177 00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:00,320 Speaker 1: Because Mississippi was considered the most dangerous southern in state. 178 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:02,959 Speaker 1: You can hear them talking about how as bad as 179 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: Alabama had had been for them, Mississippi seemed like there 180 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: might be worth the worst things waiting, and there were 181 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,199 Speaker 1: scary signs right across the border. There were signs that 182 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: said things like quote prepared to meet Thy God. So 183 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: it looked like it was going to be as bad 184 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,439 Speaker 1: as they thought it was going to be. But response 185 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: that they get there is quite different from Alabama's messy 186 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: mob violence. According to Trillan, the former Time reporter, Mississippi's 187 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: Citizens Council and State Sovereignty Commission wanted to avoid national 188 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: news scandals and presidential interference too, and the president an 189 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: attorney general wanted to avoid the violence and beatings on 190 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: the national news, so they made this compromise. Instead of 191 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: mob violence, there would be an organized, rapid police response. 192 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 1: So what does that mean. This basically means that the 193 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: first writers from trail Ways disembarked the bus, went to 194 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,439 Speaker 1: the Whites waiting room and were asked to leave politely, 195 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: and after they refused, they were arrest stood, and this 196 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: happened again with the greyhound bus. The charges against them 197 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: are things like a breach of peace. Yeah, so it's 198 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: this very orderly, non violent, uh, comparatively calm. Yeah, maybe 199 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: even disturbingly common. I don't know, after what they've gone through. 200 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: But from there they'd be quickly processed and sent through court, 201 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: put into the city jail, and then eventually shipped off 202 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: not just to any old prison, but to the state 203 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: penitentiary Parchment State Prison Farm, which was one of the 204 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,200 Speaker 1: most notorious prisons in the country. Just a little side note, 205 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: even if you don't know about Parchment, you've probably heard 206 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: about it if you've listened really carefully to blues or 207 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: folk recordings, because in the nineteen thirties Allen Lomax recorded 208 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: singers and bluesmen for the Library of Congress, singing really 209 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 1: sad songs about how hard life was in Parchment. But 210 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,560 Speaker 1: the freedom writers didn't have the expected reaction that all 211 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: the author reads in Mississippi thought they would have. They 212 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: thought that they would just post bail, get out and 213 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: not got back. Yeah, get out of town. But instead 214 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,199 Speaker 1: they take up the slogan jail no bail and resolved 215 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: to fill up the prison and clog up their system. 216 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: So buslos of them just keep coming through that summer, 217 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: even though On May Robert Kennedy petitioned the Interstate Commerce 218 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: Commission to prohibit segregation and interstate bus travel and pleaded 219 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 1: with the writers to take a cooling off period while 220 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: the request was processed. So he was basically like, Okay, 221 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 1: we're trying to put this through. Can you guys please 222 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: stop for a little while. He was encouraging them to 223 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 1: shift their attention to voter registration, you know, something something 224 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: to work on. Please let this go. But they were 225 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: completely unwilling to do that. They rejected the cooling off period, 226 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: and instead the rides intensified. Ultimately, three hundred of the 227 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 1: four hundred and thirty six Freedom Writers ended up at 228 00:12:54,600 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: Parchment Prison, and finally, by September the anniversary, we are 229 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: commemorating here the I c C issue of the order 230 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:07,920 Speaker 1: that all segregated signs would come down at interstate bus 231 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: and train terminals. Um and we've got to talk about 232 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,959 Speaker 1: the the effect of the rides and what people thought 233 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 1: at the time, since they were kind of unpopular at 234 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 1: the beginning, even within the movement. According to the New 235 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: Yorker article we mentioned earlier, in nineteen sixty one Gallop 236 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 1: poll showed that only one in four Americans approved of 237 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: the rides, but after the victory, it was clear that 238 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,560 Speaker 1: they had accomplished something. They had been effective. Yeah, so 239 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: they saw that nonviolent activism could really work. According to 240 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 1: a Smithsonian article by Marion Smith Holmes the New York Times, 241 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: for example, which was formerly critical of the rides, they 242 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: admitted that the Freedom Writers quotes started the chain of 243 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 1: events which resulted in the new I c. C Order. 244 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,960 Speaker 1: It also had the effect of empowering young student leaders 245 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: in the movement and of forcing ties between the Kennedy 246 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: administration and civil rights leaders. Exactly those late nite phone 247 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: calls we were talking about, where Martin Luther king Is 248 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: is calling up the Kennedy's and all of these nineteen 249 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: year old twenty year olds who decide to leave school 250 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 1: during their exams and go out and do this. But 251 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,680 Speaker 1: in addition to Raymond Arsenow's book and that American Experience 252 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: documentary that is inspired by it, there is just so 253 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 1: much on this story. It's a really it's a really 254 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: great one. If you want to do some research yourself 255 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 1: and get even deeper into it. Their countless interviews and 256 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: articles by former writers and politicians and journalists and there's 257 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: a great photographic record too, and I wanted to just 258 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: talk about that a little bit more because I think 259 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 1: it's so interesting. So there aren't just images of the 260 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: violent beatings and the burning buses and the segregated waiting rooms, 261 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: those images that really went across international newspaper headlines. There 262 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: are also kind of more personal images too. So in 263 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: two thousand two, the Mississippi the State Sovereignty Commission was 264 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:06,280 Speaker 1: forced to open its archives after this lengthy, like multi 265 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: decade long lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union, And 266 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: after that, three hundred mug shots of the Freedom Writers 267 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: became available for the first time, and an editor named 268 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: Eric Etheridge decided to He was really moved by all 269 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 1: of these photos of these people who have been arrested 270 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 1: and kind of have these defiant looks. Some of them 271 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: are almost smiling, some of them have clearly been roughed up. 272 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: But he decided to seek out the Freedom Writers that 273 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: were photographed and re photographed them, since they would, of 274 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: course all be mature adults by that point, and he 275 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: just cold called them. He told Smithsonian that his quote 276 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: best ice breaker was I have your mug shot from 277 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty one have you ever seen it. It's a 278 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: very cool story. He got a lot of photos, made 279 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: a book out of it, and it is really interesting 280 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 1: too to see what these people went on to do 281 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: with the rest of their lives after after doing something 282 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: like this, maybe when they're only nineteen years old. Yeah, 283 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: I mean I have to imagine that it was thrilling 284 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: to call them and maybe meet them. I mean, these people, 285 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: no matter what you think about their strategy, how they 286 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 1: went about what they did, they were uniquely brave people. Yeah, 287 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,240 Speaker 1: and to find out how many of them were still 288 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 1: involved in activism or had continued work that seemed really 289 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: fitting for somebody who was a former freedom writer, somebody 290 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 1: who would go out and and do this. So, while 291 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: we are done talking about the freedom rides in the 292 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: American South, were not quite done with this topic because 293 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 1: people in Australia were motivated also in the nineteen sixties 294 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: to stage their own freedom rides, and that's going to 295 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: get its whole owned episode next time we talk. So 296 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: stay tuned. If you want to learn a little bit 297 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: more about the freedom rides, you can also suggest other 298 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: civil rights topics, or maybe you're getting to be for Australia, 299 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 1: you can send other Australian topics to us by emailing 300 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,480 Speaker 1: us at History podcast at how stuff works dot com. 301 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: We're also on Twitter at Misston History and we are 302 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,600 Speaker 1: on Facebook. And if you want to learn a little 303 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: bit more about some of the topics discussed today, we 304 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,119 Speaker 1: have an article called how the a c LU works 305 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,160 Speaker 1: and you can find it on our website by going 306 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:27,639 Speaker 1: to our homepage at www dot how stuff works dot com. 307 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 1: Be sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff 308 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: from the Future. Join how Stuff Work staff as we 309 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 1: explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The 310 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,239 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works iPhone app has a rise. Download it 311 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: today on iTunes.