Cold Open

It’s March 2nd, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama.

15-year-old Claudette Colvin boards the bus after a long day at school. She finds her seat in the section reserved for Black people.

The doors close and the bus starts to move. Claudette gazes out the window and gets lost in thought, her mind swirling with the day’s lessons about the United States Constitution.

And as the bus continues along its route, it makes periodic stops. At every one, it fills with more passengers. Until, at the next stop, all the seats for white bus riders are taken.

The bus stands still and Claudette catches the glaring eyes of the driver looking at her and her Black friends in the rearview mirror. She knows that he’s waiting for them to give up their seats. Claudette’s classmates receive the message and move, but Claudette doesn’t budge.

They exasperated, the bus driver hails a traffic officer.

The officer boards the bus and walks down the aisle to Claudette demanding to know why she isn’t moving. Claudette replies firmly that she’s paid her fare and it’s her constitutional right to sit here.

The police officer scoffs, then walks away. As a traffic cop, he can’t make an arrest so he goes to find officers who can.

Soon two new men approach Claudette and once again they demand that she make space for the white passengers. Claudette feels her face getting warm, but she thinks back to the previous month’s Black history lessons, about heroes like Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. Claudette stubbornly repeats that it is her constitutional right to remain seated.

Without another moment’s hesitation, the officers knock Claudette’s books to the ground. Then they grab her by the wrists, yank her from her seat, and drag her from the bus.

Claudette will spend the night in jail for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. She’ll be charged with resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, and violating Montgomery’s segregation laws. But a savvy judge will throw out the segregation charge, knowing that civil rights activists want a chance to challenge it in court.

But soon after, Claudette will be found guilty of assault. But this harsh punishment won’t deter others from following Claudette’s example. Four other Black women will be arrested for breaking Montgomery’s segregated bus laws that year, including civil rights activist Rosa Parks. And after Rosa is arrested, Montgomery’s Black community will organize a boycott to end segregation on all city buses. It will be a difficult and dangerous fight, but after almost 13 months they will prevail on December 20th, 1955.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is December 20th, 1956: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Claims Victory.

Act One: The Boycott Begins

It’s December 5th, 1955, nine months after high schooler Claudette Colvin defied orders to give up her seat on a segregated bus.

35-year-old Georgia Gilmore steps outside her home in Montgomery, Alabama. She fidgets nervously as she begins her walk to work.

Four days ago, Rosa Parks, a Black woman and member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or the NAACP, was arrested in Montgomery for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. So far she’s the fourth woman arrested for resisting segregationist rules on the bus this year, and each arrest has made Montgomery’s Black community swell with both pride and outrage. But Rosa’s arrest catalyzed a new level of action.

Community organizers printed and distributed flyers throughout Montgomery’s 50,000-strong Black community that read, “Do not ride the bus on Monday.” Georgia has no problem answering that call. Since her own run-in with a racist bus driver, Georgia has refused to take the bus. But on this cold and dreary winter day, she wonders if her fellow community members will be able to join her in that sacrifice.

So, as the biting wind hits her, Georgia buttons her coat all the way up. Her body trembles for a moment from a mixture of cold and anxiety. She shoves her hands into her pockets and picks up her pace, headed to the restaurant where she works as a cook.

But as Georgia makes her commute by foot, she sees her Black neighbors are answering the call to boycott. The buses which are normally mostly filled with Black passengers are practically vacant. Rather than give their money to a racist bus system, Black residents are walking, riding bikes, and carpooling.

Georgia’s spirit soars. And throughout the workday, she has a smile on her face as she recalls this morning’s activism. She’s certain that Montgomery’s city leaders can’t ignore tens of thousands of Black riders boycotting the buses. But Georgia also knows firsthand that many of Montgomery’s white residents can be stubborn and vindictive when it comes to Black people standing up for themselves. She doesn’t think for a moment that one day’s boycott means an end to her community’s oppression. So, after work, she makes her way to the Holt Street Baptist Church where organizers have called a meeting to discuss the future of the boycott.

Georgia arrives early and is able to find a seat near the front. As she waits, the church fills to capacity. Every seat and piece of standing room is taken. But people keep on coming, filling the area outside where they can listen to the proceedings on speakers.

They’re all eager to hear about the future of the protest from organizers of today’s bus boycott – the Montgomery Improvement Association, or MIA. One of the speakers scheduled this evening is the young block minister, Martin Luther King, Jr... He describes the infuriating mistreatment of Black passengers on Montgomery’s buses, before lauding Rosa Park’s civil disobedience. He makes it clear that the time has come to put an end to the racist abuse of Montgomery’s Black community, and he appeals to the values of Christianity and democracy as he asks the crowd to make a commitment to nonviolent protest. The work ahead will be difficult he says, but if the community can stick together, he knows they will prevail.

As the reverent King ends his speech, Georgia joins the crowd in applause. And that night, the assembly votes to continue the boycott until three demands are met: the Montgomery bus system must implement respectful treatment of Black riders by bus drivers; first-come, first-served seating for all passengers; and hire Black drivers to drive predominantly Black routes.

To support the boycott, Georgia and countless others commit to working together. Black taxi drivers offer rides for 10 cents, the same price as bus fare. People who own their own cars offer carpools. And Georgia does what she does best. She cooks.

Georgia is renowned throughout Montgomery for her culinary talents and over the coming months, she sells sweet potato pies, pound cakes, fried fish, and chicken, and much more. With the money she earns, she helps pay for gas, insurance, car repairs, and other necessities to keep the boycott going.

Georgia is joined by other women. But their efforts are dangerous. As the boycott grows in power, white supremacist backlash grows too. Boycotters lose their jobs, and houses are bombed, including Martin Luther King, Jr.’s. So to keep their work anonymous, Georgia and her fellow chefs call their group “The Club from Nowhere.”

Georgia’s efforts will inspire other groups to raise funds and support the boycott. Although their protest will be challenging, the city’s Black community will stick together in their fight for justice. But their commitment will be put to the test as white leaders in Montgomery look for new ways to break the boycott, including criminalizing the protest itself.

Act Two: Georgia Takes the Stand

It’s March 21st, 1956, in Montgomery, Alabama, more than three months since Black residents began their boycott of the city’s buses.

Inside the state courthouse, Georgia Gilmore waits patiently for her name to be called as a defense witness for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As the months turned from winter to spring, negotiations between the Montgomery Improvement Association and city leaders have reached an impasse. Boycotters have endured police harassment, death threats, and even bombings. In an attempt to break the boycott once and for all, opponents of the protest also uncovered a state law prohibiting boycotts.

So last month, 90 activists from the Montgomery Improvement Association were indicted, including the organization’s leader, Martin Luther King Jr.. His trial began earlier this week. And now it’s time for King’s attorneys is to present their defense. Their central argument is an attack on the evils of bus segregation in Montgomery. And to make their case, they are calling on dozens of witnesses to describe their negative experiences as Black bus riders.

Sitting in the courtroom listening to the testimony of her Black neighbors, Georgia's indignation only grows. Their stories echo her own experiences and she feels the same shame that those moments inflicted on her. She also feels a familiar fury and when her name is called, she stands up straight and walks confidently to the witness stand.

King’s lawyers ask Georgia to tell the court her story of abuse. She looks toward the judge and recounts the time a bus driver took her fare and then called her a slur before driving off without her. The judge listens to Georgia’s story, but his face appears unmoved.

Then when Georgia steps down from the stand, she’s aware justice for King is unlikely. But she’s happy she did her part. She and the rest of the Black community of Montgomery showed up for King and proved that the boycott is much larger than one man. The courtroom is filled with supporters of the boycott, as well as journalists from around the world who report on the tales of injustice shared by Georgia and other witnesses.

The final witness to testify is King himself. In his testimony, he reiterates that the boycott is a collective action. Neither he or anyone else from the MIA have coerced Black residents into boycotting the buses. He tells the court that he has always encouraged those attending MIA meetings to let their conscience be their guide, and he reasserts his commitment to non-violence as a principle of the protest.

But when the trial comes to an end, the judge rules that King is guilty of illegally conducting a boycott. But King’s lawyers are prepared for this and immediately begin the process for an appeal.

But this first trial has already had severe consequences for some of its participants. As a result of her testimony, Georgia loses her job. King, a long-time fan of her cooking, encourages her to go into business for herself. He gives her some money to get started and soon Georgia’s home becomes an informal restaurant, feeding the boycott in more ways than one.

And even while King’s lawyers try to appeal his conviction, another case vital to the boycott proceeds. In February, an MIA attorney filed a federal court suit challenging segregated seating on buses. On May 11th, the MIA’s case begins in court in Montgomery. One of the plaintiffs in the case is Claudette Colvin, the teenager whose act of defiance planted the seeds of the bus boycott more than a year ago.

And less than a month after that trial began, the court votes 2 to 1 that Montgomery’s bus segregation is unconstitutional. But the two white judges who voted to end bus segregation immediately received death threats and hate mail. Montgomery’s city officials vow to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, and after six months, the boycott is still not resolved.

But even as these critical cases make their way through the courts, Montgomery city officials look for other ways to bring the boycott to an end. Before the protest, three-fourths of the bus system’s riders were Black. The city can't afford to lose that many passengers indefinitely. So they try to abolish the MIA’s carpool system forcing passengers back on the bus. And on November 13th, at a court hearing to decide the future of the carpool system, the same judge who found King guilty, rules in favor of banning the MIA’s carpool system.

But that same day, the United States Supreme Court will affirm the lower federal court ruling that bus segregation is unconstitutional. City officials will do everything they can to delay the change, but the court order will be soon served on city officials, and integrated bus seating will begin.

Act Three: Victory at Last

It’s the evening of December 20th, 1956, 381 days after the Montgomery Bus Boycott began.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stands at the pulpit at St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He surveys the overflowing crowd filling the pews in front of him and prepares to give a celebratory speech.

Earlier that day, US Marshals formally served a court order from the Supreme Court to Montgomery city officials. That order stated that Montgomery buses should be desegregated immediately. Upon hearing this long-awaited news, King called the president of the bus company and informed him that the boycott is coming to an end. Then he called a mass meeting to praise the boycott’s victory and prepare the community for yet a difficult road ahead.

Addressing the crowd, King reflects on the long months of determination and solidarity that they have been through. He says they have learned together that it is “more honorable to walk in dignity than ride in humiliation.” He applauds this community’s faith and perseverance, making it clear that today is an affirmation of their commitment to justice through nonviolence.

He closes his remarks with a call for reconciliation, but also a warning. While many white residents are not celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision to end bus segregation in Montgomery, King implores those assembled today in this church to remain committed to nonviolence. He believes this is the only path forward to freedom for all. And as he ends his brief speech, the crowd erupts in jubilant noise.

The next day, the Black citizens of Montgomery board buses for the first time in almost 13 months. But as the city begins to run integrated bus routes, white supremacists fight back. After a relatively peaceful first few days, violence commences. City buses are shot at. A Black teenage girl is attacked by a group of white men as she gets off a bus. A pregnant Black woman is shot in the leg.

But through it all, Montgomery’s Black community retains their commitment to nonviolence. After several months of unrest, their resolve pays off. A semblance of peace finally comes to the city and slowly more and more white and Black passengers return to the buses and sit wherever they choose.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was not the first collective action of its kind. It followed in the footsteps of decades of advocacy for equal rights in public transportation and beyond. But the Montgomery Bus Boycott will energize a new era of civil rights organizing. Powerful leaders and tactics will carry on the fight for equality, having emerged from the victory of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which came to a successful end after months of determination on December 20th, 1956.

Outro

Next on History Daily. December 21st, 1891. Gym teacher James Naismith invents basketball as a way to control a boisterous class.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mischa Stanton.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Ruben Abrahams Brosbe.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.