Montgomery Bus Station- Freedom Rides Exhibit

Check out the first in a series of exhibits about the 1961 Freedom Rides at the former Greyhound Bus Station at 210 South Court Street in Montgomery. The 1961 Freedom Rides marked a turning point in the civil rights movement. The goal was to compel the U.S. government to enforce Supreme Court decisions outlawing segregated transportation seating and facilities.

Montgomery’s Greyhound Bus Station is the site most closely associated with key Montgomery events of the 1961 Freedom Rides — generally acknowledged as one of the critical mid-20^th-century campaigns by African Americans to win full democratic rights in the United States. Mob violence that met interracial student bus riders at this station on May 20, 1961, shocked the nation and led the Kennedy Administration to side with civil rights protestors for the first time. The most obvious result of the rides was a sweeping ruling by the Interstate Commerce Commission that effectively ended segregation in interstate bus, train, and air transportation. The Freedom Rides continue to evoke the power of nonviolent protest to change unjust laws.

The façade has been restored and an exterior exhibit was installed in May 2008.

The building is owned by the U.S. General Services Administration and is leased by the Alabama Historical Commission. The site is not staffed and there is presently no access to the interior.

For more information contact Dorothy Walker (334) 230-2665.