Anniston in Calhoun County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Freedom Riders

By Tim & Renda Carr, September 14, 2010

1. Freedom Riders Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

On May 14, 1961, a Greyhound bus left Atlanta, GA carrying among its passengers seven members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a.k.a. the “Freedom Riders,” on a journey to test interstate bus segregation. The bus was met by an angry mob at the bus station in Anniston, AL where tires were slashed and windows broken. Upon leaving Anniston, the bus was followed by the mob to this site where the driver stopped to change the tire. The crowd set the bus on fire and attacked passengers as they departed. The incident served to strengthen the resolve for the civil rights movement.

Erected 2007 by Alabama Historical Association and Sponsored by Theta Tau Chapter of Omega PSI Phi Fraternity Inc. of Anniston.

Location. 33° 38.076′ N, 85° 54.623′ W. Marker is in Anniston, Alabama, in Calhoun County. Marker is on Albert P. Brewer Highway (State Highway 202) west of Old Birmingham Highway, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is located above mile marker 4 on Highway 202. Marker is in this post office area: Anniston AL 36201, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within

By Tim & Renda Carr, September 14, 2010

2. Freedom Riders Marker

Looking east toward the direction of Anniston with Highway 202 on the left, and the Old Birmingham Highway on the right. This is the same route that the bus had taken on that fateful day.

5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Town of Hobson City, Alabama (approx. 4 miles away); Historic Oxford (approx. 4.6 miles away); Simmons Park (approx. 4.6 miles away); Creek Indian Campaign Memorial (approx. 4.6 miles away); Southern Railway Station Attack (approx. 4.6 miles away); Seventeenth Street Missionary Baptist Church, Organized 1887 (approx. 4.6 miles away); West 15th Street Historic District (approx. 4.8 miles away); Greyhound Bus Station Protest, May 14, 1961 (approx. 4.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Anniston.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.

Also see . . .
1. CORE Freedom Rides. (Submitted on September 14, 2010, by Timothy Carr of Birmingham, Alabama.)
2. The Freedom Riders, Then and Now from the Smithsonian Magazine. (Submitted on September 14, 2010, by Timothy Carr of Birmingham, Alabama.)

Categories. • African Americans • Civil Rights • Roads & Vehicles •

Freedom Rider's Burning Bus image. Click for full size.

3. Freedom Rider's Burning Bus

Freedom Riders Marker viewed from Highway 202 image. Click for full size.

By Tim & Renda Carr, September 14, 2010

4. Freedom Riders Marker viewed from Highway 202

More. Search the internet for Freedom Riders.

Credits. This page was last revised on August 6, 2017. This page originally submitted on September 14, 2010, by Timothy Carr of Birmingham, Alabama. This page has been viewed 3,458 times since then and 39 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 14, 2010, by Timothy Carr of Birmingham, Alabama. 4. submitted on September 15, 2010, by Timothy Carr of Birmingham, Alabama. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.