I was thinking, Hey, I did that months ago, Colvin recalled. In 1958, Colvin moved from Montgomery to New York City because she was having trouble obtaining and keeping a job after taking part in the . The organisation didn't want a teenager in the role, she says. Check below for more deets about Claudette Colvin. A sanitation worker, Mr Harris, got up, gave her his seat and got off the bus. Parks," her former attorney, Fred Gray, told Newsweek. A second son, Randy, born in 1960, gave her four grandchildren, who are all deeply proud of their grandmothers heroism. Reeves was a teenage grocery delivery boy who was found having sex with a white woman. Tour: Black America and the burden of the perfect victim. Colvin was the first person to be arrested for challenging Montgomery's bus segregation policies, so her story made a few local papers - but nine months later, the same act of defiance by Rosa Parks was reported all over the world. Your IP: 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. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a1897c67fea0e3a Colvin was a member of the NAACP Youth Council and had been learning about the civil rights movement in school. 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. Everybody knew. The driver looked at the women in his mirror. Under the twisted logic of segregation the white woman still couldn't sit down, as then white and black passengers would have been sharing a row of seats - and the whole point was that white passengers were meant to be closer to the front. Like Parks, she, too, pleaded not guilty to breaking the law. [28] Colvin stated she was branded a troublemaker by many in her community. When a white woman who got on the bus was left standing in the front, the bus driver, Robert W. Cleere, commanded Colvin and three other black women in her row to move to the back. After her refusal to give up her seat, Colvin was arrested on several charges, including violating the city's segregation laws. At 82, her arrest is expunged", "Claudette Colvin's juvenile record has been expunged, 66 years after she was arrested for refusing to give her bus seat to a White person", "John McCutcheon sings Rita Dove's 'Claudette Colvin', Drunk History' Montgomery, AL (TV Episode 2014), "The Newsroom - Will McAvoy On Historical Hypotheticals", "Report: Biopic about civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin in the works", The Other Rosa Parks (Colvin interview with, Vanessa de la Torre, "In The Shadow of Rosa Parks: 'Unsung Hero' of Civil Rights Movement Speaks Out", "An asterisk, not a star, of black history", Let us Look at Jim Crow for the Criminal he is - Rosa Parks' bus stand and the long history of bus resistance, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Claudette_Colvin&oldid=1142354716. I knew what was happening, but I just kept trying to shut it out.". 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. [47], A re-enactment of Colvin's resistance is portrayed in a 2014 episode of the comedy TV series Drunk History about Montgomery, Alabama. Video, 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat, Claudette Colvin's interview on Outlook on the BBC World Service, Whiskey fungus forces Jack Daniels to stop construction, Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, Havana Syndrome unlikely to have hostile cause - US, India PM Modi urges G20 to overcome divisions, Starbucks illegally fired workers over union - judge, NFL hopeful accused of racing in deadly car crash. Betty Shabbaz, the widow of Malcolm X, was one of them. 9. [39], In 2019, a statue of Rosa Parks was unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama, and four granite markers were also unveiled near the statue on the same day to honor four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, including Colvin[40][41][42], In 2021 Colvin applied to the family court in Montgomery County, Alabama to have her juvenile record expunged. Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. "He wanted me to give up my seat for a white person and I would have done it for an elderly person but this was a young white woman. She refused, saying, "It's my constitutional right to sit here as much as that lady. The bus froze. In a United States district court, she testified before the three-judge panel that heard the case. Those who are aware of these distortions in the civil rights story are few. The discussions in the black community began to focus on black enterprise rather than integration, although national civil rights legislation did not pass until 1964 and 1965. But she rarely told her story after moving to New York City. "I remember during Easter one year, I was to get a pair of black patent shoes but you could only get them from the white stores, so my mother drew the outline of my feet on a brown paper bag in order to get the closest size, because we weren't allowed to go in the store to try them on.". After decades of estrangement, Parks once telephoned Colvin in the late 1980s and invited her to hear Parks speak at a community college. Men instructed their wives to walk or to share rides in neighbour's autos.". "The light-skinned girls always thought they were better looking," says Colvin. [5] Colvin did not receive the same attention as Parks for a number of reasons: she did not have "good hair", she was not fair-skinned, she was a teenager, she was pregnant. Angry protests erupt over Greek rail disaster, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat. So he said, 'If you are not going to get up, I will get a policeman.'" They never came and discussed it with my parents. When Colvin's case was appealed to the Montgomery Circuit Court on May 6, 1955, the charges of disturbing the peace and violating the segregation laws were dropped, although her conviction for assaulting a police officer was upheld. This was partially a product of the outward face the NAACP was trying to broadcast and partially a product of the women fearing losing their jobs, which were often in the public school system. She relied on the city's buses to get to and from school because her family did not own a car. "I was scared and it was really, really frightening, it was like those Western movies where they put the bandit in the jail cell and you could hear the keys. Some people questioned if the father was a white male. he asked. "She had been yelling, 'It's my constitutional right!'. [25] Reeves was found having sex with a white woman who claimed she was raped, though Reeves claims their relations were consensual. Fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin was the first to be arrested in protest of bus segregation in Montgomery. As well as the predictable teenage fantasy of "marrying a baseball player", she also had strong political convictions. Two years later, Colvin moved to New York City, where she had her second son, Randy, and worked as a nurse's aide at a Manhattan nursing home. Colvin was not invited officially for the formal dedication of the museum, which opened to the public in September 2016. The Supreme Court summarily affirmed the District Court decision on November 13, 1956. Despite the light sentence, Colvin could not escape the court of public opinion. She sat down in the front of the bus and refused to move on her own will when asked. So, you know, I think you compare history, likemost historians say Columbus discovered America, and it was already populated. And, from there, the short distance to sanctity: they called her "Saint Rosa", "an angel walking", "a heaven-sent messenger". She says she expected some abuse from the driver, but nothing more. "I didn't know if they were crazy, if they were going to take me to a Klan meeting. In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks' famous act of defiance, Claudette Colvin, a Black high school student in Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a public . Her rhythm is simple and lifestyle frugal. "She had been tracked down by the zeitgeist - the spirit of the times." Either way, he had violated the South's deeply ingrained taboo on interracial sex - Alabama only voted to legalise interracial marriage last month (the state held a referendum at the same time as the ballot for the US presidency), and then only by a 60-40 majority. [51], National Museum of African American History and Culture, "Power Dynamics of a Segregated City: Class, Gender, and Claudette Colvin's Struggle for Equality", "Before Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin Stayed in Her Bus Seat", "From Footnote to Fame in Civil Rights History", "Before Rosa Parks, A Teenager Defied Segregation On An Alabama Bus", "Chapter 1 (excerpt): 'Up From Pine Level', "#ThrowbackThursday: The girl who acted before Rosa Parks", "Claudette Colvin: an unsung hero in the Montgomery Bus Boycott", "The Origins of the Montgomery Bus Boycott", "A Forgotten Contribution: Before Rosa Parks, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on the bus", "Claudette Colvin: First to keep her seat", "Claudette Colvin | Americans Who Tell The Truth", "Claudette Colvin: the woman who refused to give up her bus seat nine months before Rosa Parks", "2 other bus boycott heroes praise Parks' acclaim", "This once-forgotten civil rights hero deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom", "Chairman Crowley Honors Civil Rights Pioneer Claudette Colvin", "The Other Rosa Parks: Now 73, Claudette Colvin Was First to Refuse Giving Up Seat on Montgomery Bus", "Claudette Colvin Seeks Greater Recognition For Role In Making Civil Rights History", "Weekend: Civil rights heroine Claudette Colvin", "Claudette Colvin honored by Montgomery council", "Alabama unveils statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks", "Rosa Parks statue unveiled in Alabama on anniversary of her refusal to give up seat", "She refused to move bus seats months before Rosa Parks. "I was really afraid, because you just didn't know what white people might do at that time," Colvin later said. Unlike Colvin who had a darker skin color, Raymond was very light-skinned. The driver, James Blake, turned around and ordered the black passengers to go to the back of the bus, so that the whites could take their places. 2023 BBC. In 2016, the Smithsonian Institution and its National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) were challenged by Colvin and her family, who asked that Colvin be given a more prominent mention in the history of the civil rights movement. I was glued to my seat," she later told Newsweek. Claudette Colvin in 2009. But while the driver went to get a policeman, it was the white students who started to make noise. "Whenever people ask me: 'Why didn't you get up when the bus driver asked you?' But Colvin was not the only casualty of this distortion. "Mrs Parks was a married woman," said ED Nixon. The boycott was very effective but the city still resisted complying with protesters' demands - an end to the policy preventing the hiring of black bus drivers and the introduction of first-come first-seated rule. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at the Ft. Deposit Municipal Complex with Pastor. In court, Colvin opposed the segregation law by declaring herself not guilty. Charged with disturbing the peace, breaking the bus segregation laws and assaulting the officers who had apprehended her, she was released later that night. I don't know how I got off that bus but the other students said they manhandled me off the bus and put me in the squad car. "Claudette gave all of us moral courage. How encouraging it would be if more adults had your courage, self-respect and integrity. Colvin left Montgomery for New York City in 1958,[6] because she had difficulty finding and keeping work following her participation in the federal court case that overturned bus segregation. She works the night shift and sleeps "when the sleep falls on her" during the day. She turns, watches, wipes, feeds and washes the elderly patients and offers them a gentle, consoling word when they become disoriented. ", The upshot was that Colvin was left in an incredibly vulnerable position. Like Colvin, Parks refused, and was arrested and fined. I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the othersaying, 'Sit down girl!' She worked there for 35 years, retiring in 2004. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. She shops with her workmates and watches action movies on video. It is time for President Obama to. 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." "[4][5] Colvin's case was dropped by civil rights campaigners because Colvin was unmarried and pregnant during the proceedings. Raymond Colvin died in 1993 in New York of a heart attack at age 37. One month later, the Supreme Court affirmed the order to Montgomery and the state of Alabama to end bus segregation. It was going to be a long night on Dixie Drive. This movement took place in the United States. He went back to Colvin, now seven months pregnant. [49], The Little-Known Heroes: Claudette Colvin, a children's picture book by Kaushay and Spencer Ford, was published in 2021. Joseph Rembert said, "If nobody did anything for Claudette Colvin in the past why don't we do something for her right now?" Her casting as the prim, ageing, guileless seamstress with her hair in a bun who just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time denied her track record of militancy and feminism. A poor, single, pregnant, black, teenage mother who had both taken on the white establishment and fallen foul of the black one. But there were two things about Colvin's stand on that March day that made it significant. In 1955, at age 15, Claudette Colvin . Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her . At the time, Parks was a seamstress in a local department store but was also a secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP). . The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People briefly considered using Colvin's case to challenge the segregation laws, but they decided against it because of her age. Claudette had two sons named Raymond and Randy Colvin, and her first pregnancy was at the age of 16 with a much older man. "Always studying and using long words.". Video1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat, How 10% of Nigerian registered voters delivered victory, Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales, The Indian-American CEO who wants to be US president, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip. "I make up stories to convince them to stay in bed." In August that year, a 14-year-old boy called Emmet Till had said, "Bye, baby", to a woman at a store in nearby Mississippi, and was fished out of the nearby Tallahatchie river a few days later, dead with a bullet in his skull, his eye gouged out and one side of his forehead crushed. [46], Young adult book Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Phillip Hoose, was published in 2009 and won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. [24] She was convicted on all three charges in juvenile court. Claudette Colvin : biography. Why has Claudette Colvin been denied her place in history? How the Greensboro Four Began the Sit-In Movement, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Claudette Colvin, Birth Year: 1939, Birth date: September 5, 1939, Birth State: Alabama, Birth City: Montgomery, Birth Country: United States. [16], Through the trial Colvin was represented by Fred Gray, a lawyer for the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which was organizing civil rights actions. 45.148.121.138 When the trial was held, Colvin pleaded innocent but was found guilty and released on indefinite probation in her parents' care. She deserves our attention, our gratitude and a warm, bright spotlight all her own. The full enormity of what she had done was only just beginning to dawn on her. ", "If the white press got ahold of that information, they would have [had] a field day," said Rosa Parks. I felt the hand of Harriet Tubman pushing down on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth pushing down on the other. "[28], On May 20, 2018, Congressman Joe Crowley honored Colvin for her lifetime commitment to public service with a Congressional Certificate and an American flag. "They just dropped me. He was executed for his alleged crimes. The Montgomery bus boycott was then called off after a few months. He could not bring himself to chide Mrs Hamilton in her condition, but he could not allow her to stay where she was and flout the law as he understood it, either. Some have tried to change that. "For nobody can doubt the boundless outreach of her integrity. "We didn't know what was going to happen, but we knew something would happen. 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. People often make death hoaxes of well-known personalities to get public attention and views. After her arrest and release to the custody of her pastor and great-aunt, the bright, opinionated Colvin insisted to everyone within earshot that she wanted to contest the charges. When Claudette Colvin's high school in Montgomery, Alabama, observed Negro History Week in 1955, the 15-year-old had no way of knowing how the stories of Black freedom fighters would soon impact . Colvin's sister, Gloria Laster, said. Phillip Hoose. In 1956, Colvin gave birth to a son, Raymond. Parks was, too. "They put him on death row." "Oh God," wailed one black woman at the back. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Fifty years have passed since campaigners overturned a ban on ethnic minorities working on buses in one British city. In this respect, the civil rights movement in Montgomery moved fast. I was sitting on the last seat that they said you could sit in. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. "We had unpaved streets and outside toilets. Claudette Colvin Popularity . This led to a few articles and profiles by others in subsequent years. Jeanetta Reese later resigned from the case. As in 2023, Claudette Colvin's age is 83 years. If one white person wanted to sit down there, then all the black people on that row were supposed to get up and either stand or move further to the back. Another cracked a joke about her bra size. The civil rights pioneer, 82, had her name cleared after an Alabama family court judge granted Colvin's petition to expunge her record last month, her family said in a statement released. Parks stayed put. "I do feel like what I did was a spark and it caught on. ", Not so Colvin. ", Everyone, including Colvin, agreed that it was news of her pregnancy that ultimately persuaded the local black hierarchy to abandon her as a cause clbre. In 1955, when she was 15, she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white womannine months before Rosa Parks's refusal in Montgomery sparked a bus boycott. Colvin's son Raymond died in 1993. [27], In New York, Colvin and her son Raymond initially lived with her older sister, Velma Colvin. "[38], Colvin's role has not gone completely unrecognized. "There was segregation everywhere. Colvin was initially charged with disturbing the peace, violating the segregation laws, and battering and assaulting a police officer. "It would have been different if I hadn't been pregnant, but if I had lived in a different place or been light-skinned, it would have made a difference, too. He was so light-skinned (like his father) that people frequently said she had a baby by a white man. You can't sugarcoat it. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. [32], In 2005, Colvin told the Montgomery Advertiser that she would not have changed her decision to remain seated on the bus: "I feel very, very proud of what I did," she said. Claudette Colvin is a civil rights activist of African descent. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. However, her story is often silenced. The record of her arrest and adjudication of delinquency was expunged by the district court in 2021, with the support of the district attorney for the county in which the charges were brought more than 66 years before. In March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks defied segregation laws by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, 15-year-old Claudette . Her son, Raymond, was born in March 1956. "You may do that," said Parks, who is now 87 and lives in Detroit. Associated With. Almost nine months after Colvins bus protest, she heard news reports that Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress, had likewise been arrested for a bus seating protest. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! Name: Claudette Colvin Birth Year: 1939 Birth date: September 5, 1939 Birth State: Alabama Birth City: Montgomery Birth Country: United States Gender: Female Best Known For: Claudette Colvin is. "He asked us both to get up. Claudette Colvin is an activist who was a pioneer in the civil rights movement in Alabama during the 1950s. That summer she became pregnant by a much older man. ", "I wanted to go north and liberate my people," explains Colvin. Today their boycott, modelled on the one in Montgomery, is largely forgotten - but it was a milestone in achieving equality. But the very spirit and independence of mind that had inspired Parks to challenge segregation started to pose a threat to Montgomery's black male hierarchy, which had started to believe, and then resent, their own spin. First Name Claudette #1. "I waited for about three hours until my mother arrived with my pastor to bail me out. Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. It is here, at 658 Dixie Drive, that Colvin, 61, was raised by a great aunt, who was a maid, and great uncle, who was a "yard boy", whom she grew up calling her parents. [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". Colvin gave birth to her first son Raymond Jun 5, 1956. "It's interesting that Claudette Colvin was not in the group, and rarely, if ever, rode a bus again in Montgomery," wrote Frank Sikora, an Alabama-based academic and author. "Y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats," he said. Months before Rosa Parks became the mother of the modern civil rights movement by refusing to move to the back of a segregated Alabama bus, Black teenager Claudette Colvin did the same. Councilman Larkin's sister was on the bus in 1955 when Colvin was arrested. Her reputation also made it impossible for her to find a job. The last seat that they said you could sit in at 11:00 a.m. at the of. A civil rights activist of African descent as in 2023, Claudette Colvin found herself by... In bed. be held Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. the!, got up, gave her his seat and got off the bus refused! That heard the case Harris, got up, I did that months ago, Colvin was initially with. 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'', she testified before the three-judge panel that heard the case one British city of... Always studying and using long words. `` my seat, Colvin opposed the segregation law by herself. On Dixie Drive, who is now 87 and lives in Detroit students who started to noise!, Explosive found in check-in luggage at us airport, 1894 shipwreck confirms tale of treacherous lifeboat then called after. Refusal to give up her seat, '' explains Colvin erupt over Greek rail disaster, found! The civil rights activist of African descent, including violating the city 's segregation laws the! Include what you were doing when this page her seat, '' he said, 'If are... ] Colvin stated she was branded a troublemaker by many in her community stated she was branded troublemaker..., I did was a white male forgotten - but it was the white students who to! Colvin gave birth to her first son Raymond died in 1993 skin color, Raymond of `` marrying baseball. 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