For 382 days, almost the entire African-American population of Montgomery, Alabama, including leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, refused to ride on segregated buses, a turning point in the American civil rights movement.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery, Alabama
December 1955- December 1956
Rosa Parks & Martin Luther King, Jr.
The bus where it all started.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a major event in the Civil Rights Movement. It occurred in Montgomery, Alabama where the city buses were segregated. Black passengers were required by law to ride in the back of the bus.
On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to give her bus seat to a white person. She was arrested and sent to jail. In protest about 40,000 black people boycotted the Montgomery city buses, refusing to ride. The boycott lasted 381 days.
On November 13, 1956, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision to desegregate the buses. In response the city of Montgomery passed a law allowing black passengers to sit anywhere on the buses.
The boycott ended on December 20, 1956. Many important people in the civil rights movement took part in the boycott. This included Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy.
