Journey of Reconciliation
Chapel Hill, Orange County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Journey Of Reconciliation. In 1947 the Congress of Racial Equality & local citizens, black & white, protested bus segregation. Setting out from Washington, D.C., "freedom riders" tested compliance with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring segregation on interstate buses. On April 13, riders arrived at local bus station then 20 yards west. A mob attacked one rider. Four others were arrested and sentenced to 30 days on chain gangs.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
In April 1947, an interracial group organized by the Congress of Racial Equality set out from Washington, D.C., to test a Supreme Court ruling that barred segregation on interstate buses. These early "freedom riders" reached Chapel Hill on April 13, where a mob attacked one rider and four others were arrested and sentenced to thirty days on chain gangs. Their courage prefigured the more famous Freedom Rides to come.
Why it matters
The Journey of Reconciliation was a direct forerunner of the 1961 Freedom Rides, an early and dangerous test of whether federal law could break the grip of segregation on Southern roads.
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Related events
- · Journey of Reconciliation, 1947
Themes & tags
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