[28] Colvin stated she was branded a troublemaker by many in her community. Colvins testimony helped move the case to the United States Supreme Court, which later upheld the district courts decision on November 13, 1956. "[37], In 2000, Troy State University opened a Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery to honor the town's place in civil rights history. " Claudette Colvin, a nurse's aide and Civil Rights Movement activist, was born on September 5, 1939, in Birmingham, Alabama. The decision in the 1956 case, which had been filed by Fred Gray and Charles D. Langford on behalf of the aforementioned African American women, ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was unconstitutional. Her story followed Joseph Campbell's proposed idea of The Hero's Journey. In early 1955, Colvin's class had been learning about Black history at school. He remarks that if the ACLU had used her act of civil disobedience, rather than that of Rosa Parks' eight months later, to highlight the injustice of segregation, a young preacher named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. may never have attracted national attention, and America probably would not have had his voice for the Civil Rights Movement. How much did the average black person make compared to the average white person on the same job? This occurred some nine months before the more widely known incident in whichRosa Parks, secretary of the local chapter of theNAACP, helped spark the 1955Montgomery bus boycott. Colvin has said, "Young people think Rosa Parks just sat down on a bus and ended segregation, but that wasn't the case at all. [4] Colvin later said: "My mother told me to be quiet about what I did. [15], In 1955, Colvin was a student at the segregated Booker T. Washington High School in the city. Historically, however, the case of Rosa Parks has received much more attention and support. if( ! On March 2, 1955, Claudette Colvin boarded a bus home from school. After her minister paid her bail, she went home where she and her family stayed up all night out of concern for possible retaliation. So, you know, I think you compare history, likemost historians say Columbus discovered America, and it was already populated. In 2021, 66 years after the charges were brought to the district court, Colvin's charges were dropped. Claudette Colvin Bio: Facts, Siblings. Claudette Colvin: her birthday, what she did before fame, her family life, fun trivia facts, popularity rankings, and more. [26], Together with Aurelia S. Browder, Susie McDonald, Mary Louise Smith, and Jeanetta Reese, Colvin was one of the five plaintiffs in the court case of Browder v. Gayle. Due to this, her actions were broadly overlooked when compared to contemporary activists like Rosa Parks. [4], "The bus was getting crowded, and I remember the bus driver looking through the rearview mirror asking her [Colvin] to get up for the white woman, which she didn't," said Annie Larkins Price, a classmate of Colvin. Claudette Colvin, a young African American girl growing up in the 1950s, defied the laws of segregation and challenged the Montgomery bus laws. African Zion Baptist Church, Malden, West Virginia, (1852- ), COINTELPRO [Counterintelligence Program] (1956-1976), African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. Although she defended her innocence on the three charges, she was found guilty. Colvin was disappointed that she did not get more recognition for her actions. Her defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. if(window.fbl_started) Her biological parents were C.P. [47], A re-enactment of Colvin's resistance is portrayed in a 2014 episode of the comedy TV series Drunk History about Montgomery, Alabama. Claudette Colvin, born on September 5, 1939 in Montgomery, Alabama, was a feisty and determined young black woman that refused to let her circumstances define her. Colvin is extremely brave. She grew up in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods and focused most of her energy on school studying hard and earning mostly A's. But on a fateful day in 1955, Colvin decided to fight for her civil rights. fbl_init() The police arrived and convinced a black man sitting behind the two women to move so that Mrs. Hamilton could move back, but Colvin still refused to move. The majority of customers on the bus system were African American, but they were discriminated against by its custom of segregated seating. Colvin and Mary Ann Colvin. [24] She was convicted on all three charges in juvenile court. [16] On March 2, 1955, she was returning home from school. js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; Claudette Colvin, 1953 Claudette Austin was born in Birmingham, Jefferson County, to Mary Jane Gadson and C. P. Austin on September 5, 1939. Tue, 09.05.1939 Claudette Colvin, Activist born Claudette Colvin *Claudette Colvin was born this date in 1939. In 2021, she decided to clear her name and made a life-changing move to file for the expungement of her decades-old arrest record. js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; Colvins bravery helped start a civil rights trial to end bus segregation in the city. "Claudette Colvin's story is a timeless profile in courage," says Montgomery's mayor, Steven Reed, who was elected in 2019, becoming the city's first Black mayor. among numerous honors. [2][13] Not long after, in September 1952, Colvin started attending Booker T. Washington High School. "[35], I dont think theres room for many more icons. [43] The judge ordered that the juvenile record be expunged and destroyed in December 2021, stating that Colvin's refusal had "been recognized as a courageous act on her behalf and on behalf of a community of affected people". She was adopted by C.P. On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. window.fbl_started = true; She's famous for being arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. On March 2, 1955, Colvin was riding home on a city bus after school when a bus driver told her to give up her seat to a white passenger. [44], Former US Poet Laureate Rita Dove memorialized Colvin in her poem "Claudette Colvin Goes To Work",[45] published in her 1999 book On the Bus with Rosa Parks; folk singer John McCutcheon turned this poem into a song, which was first publicly performed in Charlottesville, Virginia's Paramount Theater in 2006. Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. She was a straight A student there. Colvin is honored by a statue in Alabama that was unveiled in 2019. [2][10] When Colvin was eight years old, the Colvins moved to King Hill, a poor black neighborhood in Montgomery where she spent the rest of her childhood. But they dont say that Columbus discovered America; they should say, for the European people, that is, you know, their discovery of the new world. In 1955, she was the first person arrested for resisting bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, preceding the better known Rosa Parks incident by nine months. toyourinbox. Colvin attended Booker T. Washington High School. Colvin was one of five plaintiffs in the first federal court case filed by civil rights attorneyFred Grayon February 1, 1956, asBrowder v. Gayle, to challenge bus segregation in the city. if( !window.fbl_started) In high school, she had high ambitions of political activity. Rita Dove penned the poem "Claudette Colvin Goes to Work," which later became a song. Colvin was a member of the NAACP Youth Council and had been learning about the civil rights movement in school. Colvins arrest record and adjudication of delinquency were finally expunged. Colvin. Claudette Colvin, best known for being a Civil Rights Leader, was born in Alabama, United States on Tuesday, September 5, 1939. Mayor Todd Strange presented the proclamation and, when speaking of Colvin, said, "She was an early foot soldier in our civil rights, and we did not want this opportunity to go by without declaring March 2 as Claudette Colvin Day to thank her for her leadership in the modern day civil rights movement." The daughter of Mary Jane Gadson and C. P. Austin, she was born Claudette Austin. Phillip Hoose (born 1947) is an American writer who lives in Maine. FBL.renderFinish(); "I was really afraid, because you just didn't know what white people might do at that time," Colvin later said. By 1955, Claudette attended Booker T. Washington High School, where she excelled. She is a retired African American nurse aide and activist who was a pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement. Let the people know Rosa Parks was the right person for the boycott. She earned mostly As in her classes and aspired to become president one day. // 5th Sep 1939. Martin Luther King Jr. was born Michael King Jr. to Michael and Alberta King on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. She had been sitting far behind the seats already reserved for whites, and although a city ordinance empowered bus drivers to enforce segregation, blacks could not be asked to give up a seat in the Negro section of the bus for a white person when it was crowded. Her most noteworthy stage . [2] Price testified for Colvin, who was tried in juvenile court. She testified before the three-judge panel that heard the case in aUnited States district court. "[22] Colvin was handcuffed, arrested, and forcibly removed from the bus. She attended Booker T. Washington High School from 1949 to 1956 but . Jo Ann Robinson organized a city bus boycott by African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955 that changed the course of civil rights in America. In fact, she attended segregated schoolsand rode segregated busesin Montgomery, Alabama. And sometimes you have to stand up for what you think is right even if you have to stand alone." - Claudette Colvin Claudette Colvin was adopted by her relatives, C. P. Colvin, and Mary Jane Gadson-Austin. So, Colvin and her younger sister, Delphine, were taken in by their great aunt and uncle, Mary Anne and Q. P. Colvin whose daughter, Velma Colvin, had already moved out. Angela Davis is an activist, scholar and writer who advocates for the oppressed. She decided on that day that she wasn't going to move. Browderv. Gayle more explicitly overturned Plessy v. Ferguson than Brown v. Board had because, like Plessy, it was specifically about transportation. 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