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Heroes

More than 100 Montgomery Bus Boycott activists were arrested in February 1956 for participating in the boycott. These courageous women and men took on enormous risks to unite and mobilize against racial segregation and humiliation on public transportation.

The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy
Euretta F. Adair
Clarence Adams
The Rev. Willie F. Alford
The Rev. Burl Mack Averhart
Ida Mae Baker
J.H. Baker
The Rev. A. Edward Banks
Sam Barnett
Walter Lee Bell
The Rev. L. Roy Bennett
Arthur Bibbins
The Rev. R.B. Binion
Mose Bishop
P.M. Blair
The Rev. J.W. Bonner
The Rev. Eddie Bradford
Samuel Brown
Norris Butler
Otis A. Carlton
Mary L. Carr
Tom Carr
Osbourne C. Chambliss
The Rev. J.H. Cherry
Louis Christburg
Dr. M.C. Cleveland
P.E. Conley
The Rev. Fred L. Davis
Alfred Ellis
Isiah Ferguson
The Rev. Edgar N. French
Jimmie Gamble
John H. Garrison
Tommy Gilchrist
The Rev. R.J. Glasco
Fred D. Gray
Thomas Gray
Addie James Hamerter
Will Hardman
The Rev. Joshua W. Hayes
The Rev. S. Heard
George Henderson
George Hill
John Green Hill
The Rev. A.H. Hoffman
Booker T. Holmes
The Rev. H.H. Hubbard
Edward Jackson
Mose Jackson
Alberta J. James
Jacob James
The Rev. H.H. Johnson
Mentha L. Johnson
Robert Johnson
W.H. Johnson
Dr. Moses W. Jones
George H. Jordan
Eli Judkins
Mathew Kennedy
J.N. King
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Jackson Knox
The Rev. B.D. Lambert
Audrey Belle Langford
Clarence W. Lee
E.H. Ligon
Jimmie L. Lowe
The Rev. Simon Peter McBride
Henry A. McClain
Augustus McHaney
Cora McHaney
Freddie Morris
Walter Moss
The Rev. Arthur W. Murphy
E.D. Nixon
The Rev. H.J. Palmer
Rosa Parks
Tom Parks
Wilson Patrick
Annie Patterson
Judge Pickett
James E. Pierce
Charlie Polk Jr.
Frank J. Powell Jr.
The Rev. W.J. Powell
James T. Primus
Mose W. Richburg
Jo Ann Robinson
Landy Robinson
Lillie Bell Robinson
Natis Robinson
Richard Rose
J.C. Sanders
The Rev. Solomon S. Seay
The Rev. B.J. Simms
The Rev. J.C. Smith
Walter Smith
Frank L. Taylor
Rebecca Tell
James Thornton
Wesley Tolbert
Calvin Varner
Lottie Green Varner
L.C. Walker
Eli Washington
Irene West
Georgia Wilkerson
Edward Williams
The Rev. Henry Williams
Ronald R. Young

121 results

J.H. Baker

J.H. Baker

January 13, 1926 - December 6, 2004

Sam Barnett

Sam Barnett

April 10, 1910 - February 26, 1985

Mose Bishop

Mose Bishop

March 28, 1911 - January 7, 1979

P.M. Blair

P.M. Blair

February 20, 1902 - September 19, 1976

Tom Carr

Tom Carr

August 1, 1924 - February 22, 2001

P.E. Conley

P.E. Conley

July 5, 1893 - September 2, 1974

Thomas Gray

Thomas Gray

June 2, 1923 - April 18, 2011

George Hill

George Hill

October 16, 1925 - August 13, 1977

Jacob James

Jacob James

March 10, 1912 - December 27, 1978

Eli Judkins

Eli Judkins

August 7, 1910 - November 24, 1980

J.N. King

J.N. King

September 18, 1903 - April 1975

E.H. Ligon

E.H. Ligon

February 22, 1908 - April 22, 1984

E.D. Nixon

E.D. Nixon

July 12, 1899 - February 25, 1987

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks

February 4, 1913 - October 24, 2005

Tom Parks

Tom Parks

June 26, 1923 - March 16, 2011

Richard Rose

Richard Rose

August 10, 1931 - January 30, 1996

Walter Smith

Walter Smith

June 16, 1897 - October 30, 1963

L.C. Walker

L.C. Walker

October 19, 1904 - October 23, 1971

Irene West

Irene West

September 30, 1890 - September 7, 1975

George Giles

George Giles

February 13, 1913 - January 1, 1996

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E.D. Nixon

July 12, 1899 - February 25, 1987

A union leader and activist, Edgar Daniel (E.D.) Nixon became a critical member of the civil rights movement. Born in Lowndes County, Alabama, in 1899, Mr. Nixon worked as a Pullman Porter attendant on railway cars—a job occupied primarily by Black men, many of whom were formerly enslaved or descendants of formerly enslaved people. In 1928, Mr. Nixon joined the A. Phillip Randolph’s Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Union; he would later co-found and serve as president of the Montgomery branch. Mr. Nixon also served as the president of the Montgomery Voters League and led a march of more than 700 people to the Montgomery County Municipal Courthouse to protest discriminatory voting laws in 1944. In 1954, Mr. Nixon was the first Black person in the 20th century to run for elected office in Montgomery. Well-regarded as a dedicated and lifelong fighter of discrimination, he was often the first call after a Black Montgomerian’s civil rights were violated.

As the former president of the Alabama branch of the NAACP and current president of the Montgomery Progressive Democratic Association, Mr. Nixon was involved in earlier negotiations with bus company officials spearheaded by the Women’s Political Council (WPC) calling for: the courteous treatment of Black bus riders; more bus stops in Black neighborhoods; an end to requiring Black patrons to pay at the front of the bus, disembark, and board at the rear; and fairer seating policies. In 1955, Mr. Nixon helped bail Rosa Parks out of jail after she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery city bus. In response to Ms. Parks’s arrest, the WPC again called for a boycott of city buses. Mr. Nixon brought the proposal to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., declaring, “We have taken this type of tilling too long already. I feel that the time has come to boycott the buses.” The treasurer of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)—an organization created to help lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott—Mr. Nixon provided both financial and political support for the 13-month-long protest. In February 1956, Mr. Nixon’s home was firebombed. Weeks later, he was arrested for participating in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1986, Mr. Nixon’s home was placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. He passed away a year later at 87 years old.