A group of determined blacks inBaton Rouge protested the injustices of the city’s transit system in 1953,approximately three years before the renowned Montgomery Bus Boycott andorchestrated America’s first large-scale boycott.
Two and a half years before RosaParks’ weariness spearheaded the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955,Reverend T.J. Jemison, along with Hazel Freeman and Willis Reed spearheadedtheir own movement against the Baton Rouge bus system.
Martha White, a native of Woodville, Miss., was on her way towork that June morning in 1953. As she boarded the crowded bus she realizedthat there was only one seat left located in the “White Only” section directlybehind the bus driver.
“I was tired. I looked at theseat and I sat down,” White said.
After being told to get up fromher seat, White did so. Then, some of the black individuals on the bus laughedand made a mockery of White, as she sat back down.
The bus driver admonished Whiteagain, stopped the bus and called the police. It was then that Reverend T.J.Jemison intervened and kept White from being arrested.
“It seemed like every police intown was there and the head of the Bus Commission,” White said. “I vowed neverto get back on the bus.”
Shortly thereafter, a bulletin was made on the radio askingall the Blacks in Baton Rouge to meet at McKinley High School. With such alarge turnout at this meeting, a second meeting had to be held at MemorialStadium, off of Interstate Highway 10 to accommodate everyone.
Johnnie A. Jones, Sr., aSouthern University undergraduate and a 1953 Law School graduate, was theprimary attorney on the case. A native of West Feliciana Parish, he wascontacted personally by Reverend Jemison to be part of the boycott.
“I did not know Jemison or Ms.White personally when this began. I had just graduated from Law School,” Jonessaid. “When I was contacted to be on the case I agreed and it was the firstcase I ever had.”
Just before this time, in theearly 1950s, black owned buses such as Blue Goose Bus, Jelly Bean and others,were declared illegal in the city of Baton Rouge. By January 1953, bus fareswere raised from 10 to 15 cents.
Due to Reverend Jemison’s earlyconvictions to city council members about the injustices of the bus system,Ordinance 222 was passed.
This decree stated that blackscould fill up seats on the bus from the back to the front and whites could fillany seats. It was in effect byMarch 19, 1953, but was ignored by citizens.
Although the boycott lastedeight days, the black residents of Louisiana’s capital came together and theirvoices were heard. Invaluable lessons were learned and the struggle forequality began.
In June 1953, Ordinance Number251 was passed. The compromise stated that all people could sit on the bus,however the first two seats on any bus were reserved for whites, and the lasttwo seats for blacks.
People of any color could sit inbetween. In September 1953, District Court Judge Holcombe dismissed the case.Jemison did not appeal the decision.
“The United Defense League wasprepared to proceed with the lawsuit and I prepared it to go to court,” Jonessaid. “Jemison did not want the case to go to Federal Court because he believedthat the people of Baton Rouge would change their minds and eliminate theproblems of segregation together.”
By 1955, the Reverend Dr. MartinLuther King contacted Jemison concerning the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott plans andthe Montgomery Boycott began shortly thereafter.
In overview from www.lpb.org,according to internationally known Civil Rights historian and “Signpost ToFreedom” adviser Dr. Adam Fairclough,
“The Baton Rouge protestpioneered many of the techniques that became standard practice in the civilrights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s: mass non-violent protest, theleadership of Baptist ministers and the foundation of alternativetransportation systems.”
The boycott has not been lost inhistory nor gone unnoticed in the media and on stage.
The Louisiana Public BroadcastNetwork produced a documentary on the boycott titled, “Signpost to Freedom: The1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott.” The program describes the before and afterevents of the nation’s first large-scale boycott protesting segregation.
To also commemorate thishistoric event, Southern University’s drama club, Lacumba Players, performedtwo plays titled “Our Boycott,” and “Buses.” The plays ran during the summer of2004 and featured an encore performance during the fall 2004 semester.
“I have enjoyed this experience.I have gotten more out of it than I thought I would,” said Katorri Alexander, asenior theatre major from Shreveport, and president of Lacumba Players.
”Our Boycott” depicted the 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott. Theplay was co-written by SU Professor Aileen A. Hendricks and Alexander. Thesecond feature, “Buses” by Denise Nichols, portrayed issues of the Civil RightsMovement taking place at an imaginary bus stop where two prominent women inBlack History, Rosa Parks and Mary Ellen Pleasant meet.
The key figures of the boycottwere Hazel Freeman, Reverend T.J. Jemison, Attorney Johnnie Jones, Willis Reedand White.
