MONTGOMERY CITY LINES BUS TOKEN
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, an African-American woman who worked as a seamstress in a department store in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus she was riding home from work.
She was arrested as a result of her refusal to comply with the orders of the bus driver. Her arrest and subsequent conviction of violating a city ordinance spurred some of the most significant events during the Civil Rights Movement.
In response to Rosa Parks’ arrest, the African-American community formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and elected Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to lead the organization. The MIA helped organized a boycott of the city bus system, encouraging African-Americans to avoid riding buses, and instead either carpool, ride in cabs operated by African-Americans, or else walk to work or stay home.
The boycott was extremely successful, and continued for several months, causing public buses to sit idle or run at a significant loss of revenue, since the buses were largely empty during their runs. The transit company was crippled financially.
The African-American community also took legal action, filing suit in the U.S. District Court. In June 1956, the court declared that racial segregation laws (also known as “Jim Crow laws”) unconstitutional. As a result of the court ruling, and the financial losses they were suffering as a result of the boycott, the City of Montgomery had no option but to stop enforcement of racial segregation on public buses.
She was arrested as a result of her refusal to comply with the orders of the bus driver. Her arrest and subsequent conviction of violating a city ordinance spurred some of the most significant events during the Civil Rights Movement.
In response to Rosa Parks’ arrest, the African-American community formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and elected Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to lead the organization. The MIA helped organized a boycott of the city bus system, encouraging African-Americans to avoid riding buses, and instead either carpool, ride in cabs operated by African-Americans, or else walk to work or stay home.
The boycott was extremely successful, and continued for several months, causing public buses to sit idle or run at a significant loss of revenue, since the buses were largely empty during their runs. The transit company was crippled financially.
The African-American community also took legal action, filing suit in the U.S. District Court. In June 1956, the court declared that racial segregation laws (also known as “Jim Crow laws”) unconstitutional. As a result of the court ruling, and the financial losses they were suffering as a result of the boycott, the City of Montgomery had no option but to stop enforcement of racial segregation on public buses.
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The item in my collection is a bus token from the Montgomery City Lines transit company.
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