On May 11, 2011, 40 students who were retracing the route of the original Freedom Ride, arrived in Anniston. The student Freedom Ride was part of a promotion organized by WGBH/Boston, a member of the Public Broadcasting system. The goal was to . . . — — Map (db m217423) HM
When seven injured "Freedom Riders" arrived at the Hospital on
this date, the mob that had attacked them earlier in the day
followed. The Riders were testing desegregation of public
transportation in the South by riding buses. The bus they . . . — — Map (db m106647) HM
Desegregation of the Library began when two African American
pastors, Reverends William B. McClain and Nimrod Q. Reynolds,
peacefully attempted to enter the building on September 15, 1963.
Their actions were endorsed by the city of Anniston . . . — — Map (db m106644) HM
South side
This tablet is
erected in honor
of the
Soldiers and
Sailors from
Calhoun County
Alabama
who served in the
Great World War
1917 - 1919
North side
Calhoun . . . — — Map (db m106706) WM
In the early 1940s, all of the buildings
on Block 148 were demolished to make
way for two new buildings, the USO
Recreation Center and a public health
building. Paul W. Hofferbert designed the
USO building for the Army. Hofferbert
was a local . . . — — Map (db m217677) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m35737) HM
Seaman Second Class, United States Navy, George Washington Ingram was killed in action in the defense of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
For Seaman Ingram's bravery, an American destroyer was built and named in his honor. The U.S.S. George . . . — — Map (db m106617) HM
Outstanding local industrialist as President, Kilby Steel Company; Chairman, Board of Directors, Alabama Pipe Company; President, City National and Anniston National Banks. Served as Mayor of Anniston (1905-09); State Senator (1911-15); Lieutenant . . . — — Map (db m35758) HM
Called “A poem in cedar & stone,” its history is intimately related to that of Anniston: Town Founders, Daniel Tyler & Samuel Noble, inspired its conception, funded its construction & caused Woodstock Iron Co. to donate the land on which . . . — — Map (db m35759) HM
Front
This was the site of the Greyhound bus terminal where on May 14, 1961, a bus carrying black and white Civil Rights Activists known as "Freedom Riders" was attacked by a mob of whites who were protesting desegregation of public . . . — — Map (db m106621) HM
This sign marks the start line of the
Woodstock 5K, one of the oldest continuous
footraces in the southeast. First held in
1980, the race takes place the first Saturday
in August each year and rollercoasters
through the historic neighborhoods . . . — — Map (db m217680) HM
The violence reached a crescendo when a flaming bundle of rags was thrown into one of the broken windows. Within seconds, the bundle exploded, sending dark gray smoke throughout the bus.
Three of the Riders found open windows, dropping to the . . . — — Map (db m217417) HM
Block 148, the block on which you are standing, was first developed in 1880 when three identical brick houses were constructed at the southeast corner of the block as rental properties for workers at the nearby factories. This 1888 Bird's Eye View . . . — — Map (db m217433) HM
Commanded Horse Artillery of
Army of Northern Virginia, C.S.A.
Killed at Kelly’s Ford, Va.
March 17, 1863
Styled “The Gallant Pelham”
By Robert E. Lee — — Map (db m36546) HM
On July 3, 1887, a congregation of 45 people met at the Opera House on Noble Street to organize a new church. Originally called Second Baptist Church, the name soon was changed to Twelfth Street Baptist Church.
In 1889, it became Parker . . . — — Map (db m36545) HM
Prelude: 12 p.m.- 12:54 p.m.
Just before this picture of the Greyhound Bus Depot at 1031 Gurnee (below left) was taken, approximately 75 men had gathered in front of it. They quickly dispersed as free-lance photographer for The Anniston Star, . . . — — Map (db m217412) HM
Pursuit: 1:25 p.m. - 1:35 p.m.
Heading to Birmingham, the battered bus turned south on Gurnee from the station and west on 10th St. while men rushed to their cars to follow. Police escorted the bus to the city limits where they turned back, . . . — — Map (db m217416) HM
Rescue
Once there, all of the injured were treated at the urging of an FBI agent on the scene. In the meantime, the crowd outside the hospital grew larger and more menacing, with some Klansmen threatening to burn the building to the ground. At . . . — — Map (db m217420) HM
Saint John, founded at the turn of the 19th century, is the first
African-American Methodist Episcopal Church in South Anniston.
The original structure was built in 1922. The current building was
erected in 1951 on the corner of D Street and . . . — — Map (db m144905) HM
Built by John Ward Noble, one of Anniston’s founders. Consecrated on September 29, 1890. Widely acclaimed for unique and beautiful Norman Gothic architecture. The church dominated by imposing 95 foot bell tower.
Open Daily — — Map (db m36540) HM
Seventeenth Street Missionary Baptist Church served as the home of "mass meetings" for black Annistonians who planned and executed Anniston's part of the Civil Rights Movement. Reverends D.C. Washington (1937-1960) and Nimrod Q. Reynolds . . . — — Map (db m106651) HM
Local "Jim Crow" laws in the first half of the 20th century enforced racial segregation in public transportation facilities throughout the South. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia (1960) upheld that segregation in these . . . — — Map (db m106602) HM
In 1917, Block 148 appeared much as it did thirty years earlier. The only new addition was the Chero-Cola Bottling Company on West 12th Street. However, the surrounding blocks, which had been residential or had remained undeveloped, saw some major . . . — — Map (db m217673) HM
Temple Beth El is the oldest building continuously used for Jewish worship in Alabama. Anniston’s Reform Jewish congregation was established in 1888. Its women’s organization, the Ladies Hebrew Benevolent Society, directed the construction of the . . . — — Map (db m36543) HM
In April 1888, the founder of a newly established Reform Jewish congregation purchased twenty-three lots in Hillside Cemetery to bury their deceased members.
In 1987, the City of Anniston vacated right-of-way that allowed the Temple to expand the . . . — — Map (db m53163) HM
The Ambush: 12:54 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.
The silence didn't last long. Anniston Klansman William Chappell and a screaming mob of about 50 white men surrounded the bus. An 18-year-old Klansman, Roger Couch, lay on the pavement in front of the bus to . . . — — Map (db m217413) HM
Major John Pelham C.S.A.
Born September 14, 1838
at the home of his Grand Parents
William McGehee and Elizabeth Clay McGehee
Erected by Forney District U.D.C.
May 5, 1937 — — Map (db m36547) HM
While the Riders awaited rescue, the bus continued to burn. The Anniston Fire Department extinguished the flames and administered oxygen. A state trooper called an ambulance, but it took Cowling to force the driver to carry the injured black Riders . . . — — Map (db m217419) HM
The Rides began in May 1961 when the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) decided to test a 1960 U. S. Supreme Court ruling that outlawed segregation in depot restaurants and restrooms serving interstate passengers.
Previously, CORE had organized a . . . — — Map (db m217406) HM
The Anniston City Commission, on May 16, 1963, established by resolution the Human Relations Council, consisting of five white men and four black men. The Council's purpose was to "make recommendations concerning human relations," and its members . . . — — Map (db m106627) HM
The Legacy of the Military
On the other side of Anniston, the Army constructed an Ordnance Depot on 15,000 acres west of the city during WWII. Over time, the depot evolved into the region's largest employer. The economic and community . . . — — Map (db m106619) HM
Willie Brewster became the target of white extremists after words spoken at a National States Rights Party encouraged them to commit acts of violence against blacks. As Brewster drove home with co-workers from the night shift at Union Foundry, he . . . — — Map (db m106626) HM
The most famous photograph of the Freedom Rides and one of the most iconic of the Civil Rights movement was taken by a freelance photographer for The Anniston Star. Joe Postiglione, called “Little Joe” by his friends, was tipped off by the Greyhound . . . — — Map (db m217422) HM
The Alabama Knights of the Ku Klux Klan had known about the Freedom Ride since mid-April and had detailed information on the city-by-city itinerary, thanks to FBI memos forwarded to the Birmingham Police Department. In a series of secret meetings in . . . — — Map (db m217411) HM
CORE leadership solicited applicants for the Ride from outside the organization as well as CORE veterans. They tried to achieve a reasonably balanced mixture of black and white, young and old, religious and secular. The only deliberate imbalance was . . . — — Map (db m217410) HM
1st Panel
Two busloads of Freedom Riders arrived in Alabama on Sunday, May 14, 1961, bound for New Orleans. It was an organized effort by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to challenge the South's continued defiance of U. S. . . . — — Map (db m106721) HM
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, race relations in the South were dominated by local "Jim Crow" laws. Although in 1960 the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation violated the Interstate Commerce Act, local laws persisted. . . . — — Map (db m106605) HM
But the Ride didn't end. The national newspaper and television coverage of what had happened galvanized the Nashville Student Movement, which already had experience successfully challenging segregationist practices through lunch counter sit-ins, . . . — — Map (db m217421) HM
In 1904, 18 year old Tyrus Raymond Cobb lived in a boarding house on this site while playing minor league baseball for the Anniston Steelers. From nearby Scarbrough Drug Store on Noble Street he wrote letters, using fictitious names, to sports . . . — — Map (db m106606) HM
This property
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
United States Federal Building - Courthouse
Built 1906 — — Map (db m217266) HM
This district was once the economic and social hub of Anniston's African American community. In its heyday (1940-1950), the District was a "city within a city," with businesses that catered to the black community. Grocery stores, restaurants, . . . — — Map (db m106650) HM
In Atlanta, the Riders separated into two integrated groups to board two different buses; the seven who were on the Greyhound bus destined for Anniston included:
• Albert Bigelow, 55 white male from Connecticut (a retired naval officer, . . . — — Map (db m217409) HM
