This page provides links to Civil Rights Movement Archive resources that have significant content related to Freedom Rides of 1961 and the role they played in the Freedom Struggle.
Contents:
Photos
CRMA History Articles About
Speeches and Articles About the Freedom Rides
Interviews, Stories & Oral-Histories
Original Documents Related to the Freedom Rides
Letters & Field Reports
Group Discussions by Movement Veterans
Commentaries & Analyses by Movement Veterans
Film, Video and Audio
Photo Album pages that include images of the Freedom Rides
Why The Mugshots Of The Freedom Riders Exude Resilience (Because of Them We Can)
Mugshots of Civil Rights Activist Freedom Riders (Vintage Everyday)
Freedom RidesFreedom Rides of 1961 [PDF]
Speeches and articles related to Related to the Freedom Rides by movement activists in the 1960s.
Chronology of the Freedom Rides from "The Freedom Ride" May 1961, Howard Zinn.
Original document, Text VersionThe Freedom Riders, Robert McAfee Brown & Frank Randal (CORE Pamphlet)
Riding to Freedom, the New Secession — and How to Smash It, Aptheker & Jackson (CP). June 1961
Freedom Rides, New South, July-August 1961 (Multiple articles)
Travel Notes From a Deep South Tourist, Frank Holloway. [PDF]The Freedom Ride, Leslie W. Dunbar. [PDF]
World Press Views Freedom Rides and U.S. [PDF]
New South front and back. [PDF]
The White Problem, Albert Bigelow. Liberation, 1961.
The Freedom Ride of May 1961, Southern Regional Council Special Report (21-pages).
The Freedom Ride and the Truman Walk, James Peck. Liberation, June 1961.
A Freedom Rider Speaks His Mind, Jimmy Mcdonald. Freedomways, 1961.
The Freedom Rides: Were They in Vain? by Terry Sullivan, 1962.
The Political Significance of the Freedom Rides by Tom Kahn, 1962.
Demographic-Political Analysis of Freedom Riders, Henry Gerner, 1964.
Interviews, narratives & stories regarding the Freedom Rides
Freedom Riders Speak For Themselves, News & Letters, 1961. (Multiple Articles) Thomas Armstrong Oral-History Interview (2021) Ed Blakenheim Interview by Claybourn Carson (2002) Gordon Carey Interview: CORE, the Sit-ins and Freedom Rides (1985) Stokely Carmichael Interview by Robert Penn Warren (1964) Dave Dennis Interview for Eyes on the Prize (1985) James Farmer Interview for Eyes on the Prize (1985) James Farmer Research interview by Robert Penn Warren (1964) Ralph Fertig The Making of a Freedom Rider (2011) Tom Gaither Oral History Interview (2011) Stephen Green Freedom Rider Diary - 40 Years Later (2003) Timothy Jenkins Interview, by "JM," (1965) Abdul Aziz Khaalis Journey to Prison (2012) Candida Lall Wouldn't Take Nothing for my Journey Now (2011) Candida Lall Killing Sisyphus (2011) John Lewis Oral History/Interview, by Emily Stoper (1967) John Lewis Interview/Oral-History, by Bass & Devries (1973) William Mahoney In Pursuit of Freedom, Liberation (1961) Sheila Michaels Them There Eyes (2016) Steven McNichols Interview by David Cline (2013) Charles Person Interview by high school students (2012) Mimi Feingold Real Interview (2012) Mimi Feingold Real Interview with Ron Bridgeforth (2018) Joan Trumpauer Oral History Interview (2013) Rick Sheviakov If I Ever Write Down the Story of My Life... (2011) Rev. C.T. Vivian Interview for Eyes on the Prize (1986) Rev. C.T. Vivian Interview by Taylor Branch (2011)
Original Freedom Movement Documents Related to the Freedom Rides
Support flyers, Chicago. May 1961.Report of Meeting of May 26, 1961 (re Freedom Rides), James Wood, SCLC.
This Mother is Proud Her Daughter is in Jail, letter to the editor from the mother of a Freedom Rider
Three Freedom Riders in Lynch Jail, CORE press release, November 10, 1961.
Partial List of Freedom Riders, SNCC. As of late May, 1961
Notes: Chronology of Student Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides, 1960-1961, Howard Zinn.
Freedom Ride Travel Costs, Requisition Procedure, Wyatt T. Walker, James W. Wood, Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee. May 31. 1961.
CORE Brochure: Violence Follows the Freedom Riders in Alabama. May 4, 1961.
Albert Bigelow, Committee of Inquiry Testimony May, 1962
James Farmer, Committee of Inquiry Testimony May, 1962
James Peck, Committee of Inquiry Testimony May, 1962
Report re Freedom Rides, (Shreveport, LA), Dave Dennis, CORE. May 25, 1962
CORE Freedom Highways Application, July 1962.
Letters from Freedom Riders.
Virginia Durr: Letter re Freedom Riders in MontgomeryJoan Browning: Albany Freedom Ride Letters and Chronology (GA)
Post-1960s commentaries, thoughts, and analyses by Movement veterans regarding the Freedom Rides.
Group Statement on Mississippi Freedom Ride 50thStatement on the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides, Bob Zellner
Discussions, panels, and email threads about the Freedom Rides and Freedom Riders by Movement Veterans.
James Garret From the Streets of L.A.. Rick Sheviakov From Berkeley to the Freedom Rides Helen Singleton Freedom Rider, Freedom Fighter Robert Singleton A CORE Freedom Rider
Films & documentaries, videos, and audio recordings related to the Freedom Rides
Freedom Riders, Stanley Nelson ~ American Experience, 2010. Partially based on Ray Arsenalut's book Freedom Riders.
Freedom Riders, by San Antonio, Texas, Public Library. Hour-long program of Freedom Riders, Barbara Collins Bowie and Patricia Dilworth, discussing their experiences. 2014. Additional info at Freedom Riders Panel Discussion.
Freedom Riders: Non-violent Civil Rights Movement, by British Broadcasting Corp. Three-hour documentary, civil rights workers, freedom riders explain the southern landscape of racism that drove freedom riders to face violence as they ride buses integrating the "whites only" seating, through the southern USA. 2017. Dion Diamond, 94-min interview by David Cline about Freedom Rides, Louisiana, Mississippi, 2015.
Steven McNichols, 137-min interview by David Cline about Freedom Rides, NSA, Delta Ministry, & MFDP. 2013.
Gwen Patton, 111-min interview by Joseph Mosnier about the Freedom Riders, Tuskeegee & Montgomery movements, segregation, Selma and the March to Montgomery. 2011.
Lyrical Freedom Riders. Song. Can be heard and obtained from: www.myspace.com/songsbryanfieldmcfarland.
![[Greyhound Bus ticket to Jackson]](crmpics/6107_fr_ticket.jpg)
The map below is from an Associated Press article in February 1962. It accompanied a feature story on the Freedom Rides of 1961 and maps the rides referred to in the AP story. Note that the map shows only a few of the more than 60 Freedom Rides that criss-crossed the South between May and November of 1961.
![[Map © Jeffrey Ward]](crmpics/frmap.jpg)
For more information:
Books: Freedom Rides
Web: Freedom Rides
© Copyright
Webspinner:
webmaster@crmvet.org
(Labor donated)
