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Home Learn Classroom Primary Source Sets Primary Source Set: Tallahassee Bus Boycott, 1956-57

Primary Source Set
Tallahassee Bus Boycott, 1956-57

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama. Five months later, in Tallahassee, two female students from Florida A&M University (FAMU) sat down in the “whites only” section of a segregated bus. When they refused to move to the “colored” section at the rear of the bus, the driver pulled into a service station and called the police.

As a result, FAMU students organized a boycott of Tallahassee city buses. Reverend C.K. Steele formed the Inter-Civic Council to manage the logistics behind the city-wide boycott. The boycott had an immediate impact on bus fare revenues. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in November 1956 that Alabama's segregated busing laws were unconstitutional, Tallahassee civil rights leaders put pressure on Florida Governor LeRoy Collins to desegregate city buses. Governor Collins suspended bus service in Tallahassee on January 1, 1957. On January 7, Tallahassee repealed the segregated seating ordinance. Through nonviolent protest, the Tallahassee bus boycott succeeded. It set a precedent for the state as, city by city, public transportation was desegregated in Florida.

Photo credit: Reverend C. K. Steele (on left) and Reverend H. McNeal Harris protesting segregated bus seating in Tallahassee, 1956.

(State Archives of Florida)


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Documents

Telegram to Governor LeRoy Collins from the Inter-Civic Council of Tallahassee, 1956

Telegram to Governor LeRoy Collins from the Inter-Civic Council of Tallahassee, 1956

Correspondence Between Governor LeRoy Collins and C. K. Steele, 1956

Correspondence Between Governor LeRoy Collins and C. K. Steele, 1956

Seth Gaines and his taxi - Tallahassee, Florida.

Seth Gaines and his taxi - Tallahassee, Florida.

African American preachers who protested segregated bus seating - Tallahassee, Florida.

African American preachers who protested segregated bus seating - Tallahassee, Florida.

African American civil rights activists.

African American civil rights activists.

Segregation protest called off - Tallahassee, Florida.

Segregation protest called off - Tallahassee, Florida.

Segregation protest called off - Tallahassee, Florida

Segregation protest called off - Tallahassee, Florida

Segregation protest called off - Tallahassee, Florida

Segregation protest called off - Tallahassee, Florida

Morris Thomas defying segregated bus seating - Tallahassee, Florida

Morris Thomas defying segregated bus seating - Tallahassee, Florida

Reverend C. K. Steele (on left), and Reverend H. McNeal Harris protesting segregated bus seating in Tallahassee.

Reverend C. K. Steele (on left), and Reverend H. McNeal Harris protesting segregated bus seating in Tallahassee.

Reverend C. K. Steele (center left), and Reverend H. McNeal Harris (center right), protesting segregated bus seating in Tallahassee.

Reverend C. K. Steele (center left), and Reverend H. McNeal Harris (center right), protesting segregated bus seating in Tallahassee.

Reverend C. K. Steele at the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church - Tallahassee, Florida.

Reverend C. K. Steele at the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church - Tallahassee, Florida.

Reports of Meetings of the Inter-Civic Council of Tallahassee, July-September 1956

Reports of Meetings of the Inter-Civic Council of Tallahassee, July-September 1956

Francisco A. Rodriguez, Reverend C.K. Steele and Reverend Daniel B. Speed walking towards the courthouse in Tallahassee.

Francisco A. Rodriguez, Reverend C.K. Steele and Reverend Daniel B. Speed walking towards the courthouse in Tallahassee.

  • Research Starter
  • Teacher's Guide

Learning Unit

  • The Civil Rights Movement in Florida

    Video

    • Reverend C.K. Steele (Part I)
    • Reverend Hudson and Reverend C.K. Steele Interview

    Published Secondary Sources

    Ensley, Gerald. “The Ride to Equality Started 60 Years Ago,” Tallahassee Democrat, May 20, 2016.

    Rabby, Glenda. The Pain and the Promise: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Tallahassee, Florida. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2000.

    Guiding Questions

    • What was the role of Florida in the civil rights movement?
    • What was the importance of the Tallahassee bus boycott in the civil rights movement?
    • What were the nonviolent tactics used by activists during the civil rights movement?

    Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

    SS.4.A.1.1: Analyze primary and secondary resources to identify significant individuals and events throughout Florida history.

    SS.4.A.8.1: Identify Florida's role in the Civil Rights Movement.
    Examples may include, but are not limited to, Tallahassee Bus Boycotts, civil disobedience, and the legacy of early civil rights pioneers, Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore.

    SS.912.A.7.7: Assess the building of coalitions between African-Americans, whites, and other groups in achieving integration and equal rights. Examples may include, but are not limited to, Freedom Summer, Freedom Rides, Montgomery Bus Boycott, Tallahassee Bus Boycott of 1956, March on Washington.

    Document Analysis Worksheets from the National Archives

    Document analysis is the first step in working with primary sources. Teach your students to think through primary source documents for contextual understanding and to extract information to make informed judgments. The document analysis worksheets created by the National Archives and Records Administration are in the public domain.

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