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Unsung Heroes of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

In the early to mid-1950s, racial segregation is extremely prominent in society. The

White citizens and Black citizens were separated from each other in public facilities such as

washrooms, water fountains and public transportation. These areas were split by what for Whites

and what was for Blacks. This system is flowing nicely for the White majority until on

December 1, 1955, a Black woman defies these segregation laws by not giving up her seat on the

bus. This action by the Black woman, Rosa Parks, helped spark the public demonstration known

as the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Most know the figureheads to be Rosa Parks and Martin Luther

King Jr. However, many people who had a hand in the boycott are overlooked in this staple in

Black History. I feel that it is an injustice when the works of others are unnoticed. The

Montgomery Bus Boycott is a fundamental of African-American history. Many people besides

Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played their part in this movement. Unfortunately,

those people are frequently neglected in the popular history. The unsung heroes of the

Montgomery Bus Boycott were powerful, intelligent and dedicated individuals who made the

boycott possible.

It is important to have an understanding of the background of these abandoned figures.

One of these forgotten people in history is Bayard Rustin. Rustin was born on March 17, 1912, in

West Chester, Pennsylvania. He was unknowingly raised by his grandparents and came to find

out before his adolescent years that whom he deemed to be his sister, was actually his own
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mother. Rustin later attended HBCUs Wilberforce University and what is now known as Cheney

University of Pennsylvania. Upon 1937, Rustin made the move to New York City where he

studied at the City College of New York. For a short time, he began to associate himself with the

Young Communist League until he became “disillusioned with its activities and

resigned”(Biography). Rustin had a philosophy that blended the pacifism of Quakers, the

nonaggression resistance taught by Mahatma Gandhi and the socialism adopted by his future

supervisor, A. Philip Randolph. He worked for Randolph in fighting against the racial

discrimination of those wanting to join the army. Rustin faced punishment on several occasions

due to his beliefs. He was jailed for two years based on his refusal to register for the draft. He

was sentenced to labor in a chain for being involved in protests against segregated public

transportation.

Jo Ann Robinson was born unto farmer parents on April 17, 1912 in Culloden, Georgia.

Robinson and her family moved to Macon following her father’s passing. She excelled

academically in High School, becoming the valedictorian of her graduating class. In 1934, she

became the first college graduate in her household after gaining her Bachelor’s from Fort Valley

State College. Robinson became a public-school teacher in Macon and left after five years. She

soon accepted the position as an English professor at Alabama State College. Towards the end of

1949, Robinson was “humiliated by an abusive and racist Montgomery City Lines bus

driver”(AARegistry). Her retaliation was a premise of the Boycott.

Fred Gray was once defined as “the brilliant young Negro who later became the chief

counsel for the protest movement”(KingEncyclopedia). Gray was born on December 14, 1930,

and is a native of Montgomery, Alabama. He attended a boarding school in Nashville, Tennessee

operated by the Church of Christ. He did exceptionally well in his academics and went on ahead
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to Alabama State College for post-secondary schooling. He later received his degree in Law

from Case Western Reserve University. Gray promised himself that he would “work diligently to

end racial segregation in his home city”(Biography). This promise led him to take action in the

cases of Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks.

These are three people that were the paradigms for the Boycott that would soon take

place. As previously stated, these figures had key impact in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Starting with Bayard Rustin, his beliefs is what gave the foundation of the whole civil

disobedience. He sat in on a conference and had the three recommendations of

“… 1. The movement will always be called a nonviolent protest rather than a boycott in

order to keep its fundamental character uppermost. 2. A pin should be designed for all those who

do not ride the buses, to wear as a symbol of unity, encouragement, and mutual support. 3. The

slogan for the movement will be “Victory Without Violence”(Rustin 55).

Rustin had done the majority of planning when it came to the Boycott. He drilled the multitude

of off-duty officers and firemen that chose to volunteer as marshals. He taught these same

volunteered marshals “the techniques of nonviolent crowd control he had brought back from a

pilgrimage to India”(WashingtonPost). However, even with all this work Rustin was still not

seen on the forefront of the Boycott. One of the reasons for this was the fact that he was an

openly gay man. A homosexual in the 1950s being the face of a civil rights movement would be

counteractive towards what was trying to be accomplished. On top of that, Rustin was targeted

due to his brief time as a communist. At one point, he was advised to leave any identification as

an outsider behind because “they are trying to make out that Communist agitators and New

Yorkers are running [our] protest”(Rustin 55).

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Jo Ann Robinson wrote to Montgomery’s mayor as WPC president, giving a gentle

“…threatening of a boycott of city buses if abuses were not curtailed”(AAregistry.org). This

letter written was over a year before the arrest of Rosa Parks. Upon Parks’ arrest in December

1955, Robinson produced the many leaflets the put out awareness to Black citizens of the

oncoming boycott. She also participated in the carpool system that allowed transportation while

the boycott was still in effect. Robinson, however, did not want any attention brought to her

efforts “for fear that doing show would endanger her job”(EncyclopediaOfAlabama). Regardless

of her wish, Robinson was arrested as one the boycott’s leaders and was the target of violent

acts.

Fred Gray truly was the man behind the scenes. In 1955, when Rosa Parks was arrested

he immediately became her attorney. He also represented Martin Luther King in the times of the

boycott. Gray fought in cases where he argued before the Supreme Court the “unconstitutionality

of Tuskegee-based rezoning laws created by local officials that would leave African-Americans

out of the elections(Biography). Gray was of service in leading cases that resulted in the

desegregation of public institutions and integration in elementary and secondary schools.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott left a huge mark in history as a whole. Without the people

involved, the boycott would not be possible. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks were seen as

the faces of this boycott. However, a lot of what was accomplished would not be possible

without these unsung heroes of the boycott. The unsung heroes of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

were powerful, intelligent and dedicated individuals who made the boycott possible.
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Works Cited

“Jo Ann Robinson Was An Unsung Activist.” African American Registry. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar.
2017. <http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/jo-ann-gibson-robinson-was-unsung-
activist>.

“Bayard Rustin Biography.” Biography. N.p., 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.biography.com/people/bayard-rustin-9467932#early-life-and-education>.

“Fred Gray Biography.” Biography. N.p., 8 July 2014. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.biography.com/people/fred-gray-21308983#related-video-gallery>.

“Jo Ann Robinson Biography.” Biography. N.p., 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.biography.com/people/jo-ann-robinson-21443551#later-career>.

Rustin, Bayard. Down The Line. Chicago: Quadrangle, 1971. Print.

“Jo Ann Robinson.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. N.p., 9 Aug. 2011. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3124>.

“Montgomery Bus Boycott.” History. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

<http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott>.

“Gray, Fred David.” King Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.
<http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_gray_fred_david_1930/>.

Hendrix, Steve. “Bayard Rustin, organizer of the March on Washington, was crucial to the
movement.” Washington Post. N.p., 21 Aug. 2011. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/bayard-rustin-organizer-of-the-march-on-
washington-was-crucial-to-the-
movement/2011/08/17/gIQA0oZ7UJ_story.html?utm_term=.1f97064cc40f>.