Full Description
As a member of the integrated Women's Army Corps, Private First Class Sarah Keys served her country as a receptionist at Fort Dix, New Jersey. When she boarded a bus home to North Carolina in 1952, she never expected to be arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to move to the rear so a white Marine could take her seat. Her landmark 1955 Civil Rights victory, "Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company" not only desegregated interstate bus travel, it also provided the legal precedent needed during the 1961 Freedom Rides to pressure the Interstate Commerce Commission to properly enforce its Sarah Keys ruling. Often overlooked in many accounts of the Civil Rights era, her arrest and victory are crucial milestones in the fight against segregation. Riding into History draws on years of personal conversations with Sarah Keys Evans as well as extensive research to present a biography of this hero and her role in the struggle for civil rights alongside the long history of many other Black Americans, especially women, who protested racial segregation in interstate travel.
Contents
Author's Note ix
Preface xi
1. Leading the Way 1
2. A Glimmer of Hope 4
3. Test Rides 27
4. Heading Home 34
5. "The Quietist of Us All" 42
6. Education Backstory: North Carolina 58
7. "Can Anything Be Done for My People?" 78
8. A Plan of Attack 102
9. Finding a Strategy 113
10. Never Give Up 125
11. Winning a Wider Victory 134
12. Moving On 147
13. Closing the Circle 167
Acknowledgments 185
Appendix. Transportation Heroes Brigade 189
Timeline 203
Notes 207
Sources 237
Index 271
