What happened at Anniston?
Anniston. On Sunday, May 14, Mother’s Day, in Anniston, Alabama, a mob of Klansmen, some still in church attire, attacked the first of the two Greyhound buses. As the bus burned, the mob held the doors shut, intending to burn the riders to death.
Where did the Freedom Riders get attacked?
Birmingham: Violence at the Trailways Station Following the infamous burning of the Greyhound bus on May 14, 1961, in Anniston, Alabama, a Trailways bus carrying Freedom Riders arrived in Birmingham, where a mob of Ku Klux Klan members attacked the Freedom Riders with baseball bats and other weapons.
What happened in the Freedom Rides?
Freedom Rides, in U.S. history, a series of political protests against segregation by Blacks and whites who rode buses together through the American South in 1961. In 1946 the U.S. Supreme Court banned segregation in interstate bus travel.
Is Anniston Alabama Safe?
Anniston, AL crime analytics With a crime rate of 104 per one thousand residents, Anniston has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes – from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One’s chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 10.
How old is Anniston Alabama?
Anniston, Alabama
| Anniston | |
|---|---|
| Settled | April 1872 |
| Incorporated | July 3, 1883 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jack Draper |
How did President Kennedy react to the freedom riders?
At first, President Kennedy didn’t want to interfere. “The Kennedys saw the Freedom Rides as really a no-win situation for them politically,” Perry said. “The right wing would accuse them of interference in the South. And the left wing would accuse them of not doing enough to help the cause of civil rights.”
Why was Anniston Hardware bombed in February 1964?
On September 16, 1963, with city police present, Noble and Sproull escorted black ministers into the library. In February 1964, Anniston Hardware, owned by the Sproull family, was bombed, presumably in retaliation for Commissioner Sproull’s integration efforts.
What was the population of Anniston Alabama in 1961?
Known for its hard-edged race relations, Anniston boasted a relatively large black population (approximately 30 percent in 1961), a well-established NAACP branch, and some of the most aggressive and violent Klansmen in Alabama.
Where was the bus that was burned in Anniston?
The bus was forced to a stop just outside of Anniston, in front of Forsyth and Sons grocery, by more mob members. As more windows were broken, rocks and eventually a firebomb were thrown into the bus. As the bus burned, the mob held the doors shut, intent on burning the riders to death.
When was the Freedom Ride burned in Anniston?
In January 2017, Pres. Barack Obama designated the former station and the site where the bus was burned outside of Anniston as the Freedom Riders National Monument. They are part of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail and the Alabama Civil Rights Trail.