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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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The Rev. Ralph David Abernathy

March 11, 1926 - April 17, 1990

One of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most trusted advisors, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy was a key leader in the civil rights movement. Born in Linden, Alabama, Rev. Abernathy’s grandfather was enslaved and his father was a farmer and deacon in a local Baptist church. After graduating from high school, Rev. Abernathy enlisted in the U.S. Army and served overseas in World War II. When he returned to the United States, Rev. Abernathy was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1948. Two years later, he graduated from Alabama State College (now Alabama State University), a historically Black institution in Montgomery, with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. The pastor of Montgomery’s First Baptist Church, Rev. Abernathy was also active in the NAACP, one of the largest and most influential civil rights organizations in the country.

After Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery public bus, Rev. Abernathy proposed the creation of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)—a group of Black ministers and community leaders that facilitated the 13-month Montgomery Bus Boycott—and served on the organization’s executive board and negotiating and program committees. After Rev. Abernathy’s home was bombed in early January 1957, he helped Dr. King form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a civil rights group that used nonviolent resistance to advance the civil rights of Black Americans. When Dr. King moved to Atlanta in 1959, he named Rev. Abernathy as the president of the MIA. Following the assassination of Dr. King, Rev. Abernathy became president of the SCLC, which he led from 1968 to 1977. Rev. Abernathy also founded the Foundation for Economic Enterprises Development, which worked to improve economic opportunities for the Black community. Deeply committed to his faith, Rev. Abernathy served as the pastor of West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta until his death in 1990.