The Baton Rouge Bus Boycott
Baton Rouge Bus Boycott
The People
"I watched women who had cooked and cleaned in houses of white folks all day having to stand up on the long bus ride home."
Reverend Theodore Jefferson Jemison*,
Initiator of the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott
Reverend Jemison came to Baton Rouge from Selma, Alabama, in 1949 to pastor the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, where he remained for 49 years. Rev. Jemison felt his role in the Bus Boycott of 1953 was that of a Christian leader, as he could not stand to see people (many of them his own parishioners) being mistreated on the buses.
*Jemison photo rights reserved.
"I got on the bus with my wife going out to a friend's house. And my wife looks like she is white -- one of them Creoles from up around Natchitoches. [A white man] jumps up and gives her a seat. I laughed. I sat right down beside her. Well we were going out into a black neighborhood; wasn't too many whites on the bus. [The bus driver] wasn't ready to start a commotion, so he kept looking at his mirror and mumbling-jumbling... But I rode on out there."
Dupuy Anderson,
free ride volunteer driver
(hear excerpt)
Dr. Dupuy Anderson, a retired dentist in Baton Rouge, did not consider himself a leader of the Bus Boycott, but a co-worker. He was a driver in the free ride system, taking a shift from 4:30-10:00 a.m (at which time he would go to his office for a day's work) and again on Sundays. Dr. Anderson described how he once sat in the white section of the bus. The first night after he returned from serving in the Army, he and his wife rode the bus to visit a friend. His wife, a fair skinned lady, boarded the bus first. A white man got up and gave her his seat, not knowing whether she was white or black. Dr. Anderson paid the driver and then sat next to his wife under obvious disapproval. Dr. Anderson was willing to play any role necessary to make sure the bus boycott was a success. He states, "You don't prepare to go to jail," [but] "when you are fighting for right and justice, you accept what ever goes along with it." Dr. Anderson also thinks the boycott efforts should have continued. "We had [the bus company] ready to give in, but had thrown in the towel. [The boycott organizers] accepted a piecemeal settlement."
"You learned early [that] you know you wanted to avoid confrontation, so you went behind the screen. They had so many seats allocated for Afro-Americans, we normally just went on behind the screen. But if the bus got crowded with whites, blacks had to get up. . .And during the bus boycott it was a tremendous sacrifice for me because I was married, I was working on Terrace and Highland Road, so bus transportation was the only transportation that I had at that time. But we gave it up, my wife and I. We gave it up to try to make the bus boycott work."
Willie Spooner, Jr.,
boycott supporter
(hear excerpt)
During the time of the boycott, Spooner worked as a teacher and a coach and was a member of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Mr. Spooner and his family frequently rode the city buses. Even though bus transportation was the only means he and his wife had to go to work, they honored the call not to ride the buses. He also donated funds to help with the cost of gasoline for the free ride system. Mr. Spooner recalled an incident, about ten years before the boycott, when a young black man refused to give up his seat to some white people. The group attacked the young man, chased him and beat him. Usually, blacks just went behind the screen and sat at the back of the bus. If a white person came on the bus, the black people would just give up their seat. Mr. Spooner remembers being glad to be able to return to riding the buses with more seats for blacks. But he also recalls that some protesters did not return because all demands were not met during the boycott.
"What lead me to get involved in the bus boycott [were] the policies, the attitudes of the policemen and the attitudes of the bus drivers. They were very un-courteous to people, they talked to them as if they were inhuman . . . and I would think that about eighty percent of the riders at that time were black people!"
Willis Reed,
boycott organizer and volunteer driver
(hear excerpt)
Mr. Willis Reed is the self-educated owner and publisher of the African-American newspaper, The Baton Rouge Post. At the time of the boycott, Reed was an insurance salesperson. Mr. Reed brought what was going on with the black people on the buses to the attention of Jesse Webb, Sr. (then Clerk of Court for Baton Rouge) who in turn got the police together to enforce Ordinance 222. Mr. Reed said, "It was my action with Jessie Webb that led to the Boycott." It was he and Raymond Scott who informed WLCS radio of the decision to have the boycott. He described conditions as "unfair and wrong." Mr. Reed drove his car as a free taxi during the boycott, sometimes using his own money for gas. He felt that others should have paid for their gas rather than ride free, in order to contribute to the cause. Even though at that time he would have done anything necessary to help the bus boycott, he still feels that the protest was mismanaged through decisions made by one or two people to benefit themselves. Yet, Mr. Reed has continued to speak out for changes for the black community, even running at the age of 80 for State Representative. He feels there are still many problems in the black community, and the current black leaders are more interested in self gain than in acting on behalf of the people who elected them. Mr. Reed feels a sense of pride concerning the educational and professional successes of his children, the results of opportunities unavailable to him. Reed said, "I give credit to almighty God for all I know now."
"When the bus boycott come along in 1953, I was happy to help with that. We met with Mr. Matthews and Reverend Jemison and others. We had meetings, and I was available to get out and drive up and down the road, take people wherever they had to go. It was like a daily job. It was a pleasure, you know? My oldest daughter when she got out of high school she had a little summer job working over at Kean's laundry. And this was after the boycott, she told me: She got on the bus and she sat in the front. There wasn't any seats, except some way to the back. And the bus pulled over to the side, and after a while, about five cars of policemen drove up. They got on the bus and ask her, 'Why are you sitting here?' She said, 'Well, I can sit here.' They made her get in the back. That was our experience of the bus."
Almenia Freeman,
free ride volunteer driver
(hear excerpt)
Born March 23, 1922, Mrs. Freeman grew up in East Feliciana Parish. In 1939, she married James Freeman, Jr. and is the mother of nine children. One of her daughters is the Principal at McKinley High School where several people involved in the bus boycott went to school and some of the mass meetings were held. During the Bus Boycott, Mrs. Freeman was a driver for the free ride system, which provided the means for black people to get to and from work during the boycott. Mrs. Freeman was one of the many people, both black and white, who volunteered in this way. Mrs. Freeman had a brand new 1953 Pontiac at the time. She was proud to be able to drive people where they needed to go. She would drive all day if necessary.
"Dr. Jemison [sic], he gave us some guns, told us to gaurd the house while he went to the stadium and got things straight about the money [donations]. So we stayed there. Two policemen came by in a car and they saw us with the guns. I had the gun cocked on him. He told me to lower it. I didn't hear him say that! Well the policeman said, 'I'll have to take you uptown.' So I went up there with him. . .We was out there to shoot or be shot, too."
Chester Laborde,
bodygaurd to Rev. Jemison
(hear excerpt)
Laborde was born October 30, 1920, in Baton Rouge where he still lives. He graduated from McKinley High and continued his education with correspondence classes. He was the first black man to open a radio and television shop in Baton Rouge. During the 1953 bus boycott, Laborde was a bodyguard for Rev. Jemison, whom he met at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church where he attended prayer services for over 60 years. Laborde guarded Jemison's home while the Reverened went to the mass meetings. He rode with Jemison to the radio station (WLCS) to announce the start of the boycott on the following day. During the boycott he providing armed guard of the Reverend's home with four or five other men. One night, two policeman came, and Mr. Laborde pulled out his gun. He did not hear the policeman's call to lower his gun, and as a result, was taken to the station. Reverend Jemison came to get him so he was not arrested. He asked the policeman to put in his report that he was the "toughest cat down at the police station." Mr. Laborde said many of the black people wanted the boycott to go on longer. Many were not satisfied with the results because they wanted to be able to sit anywhere on the bus with no restrictions. Mr. Laborde said he agreed with Rev. Jemison that it was time to end the boycott because of all the pressure. He tells a story about Jemison and a policeman: the policeman asked Jemison if he needed a bodyguard; Jemison replied that he didn't need one. He said that he had one, and he pointed to a gun in the pocket of Laborde's coat. Mr. Laborde spoke of Martin Luther King, Jr. coming to Baton Rouge to ask for advice, and he felt very proud about that. Mr. Laborde hopes and dreams of a world where all people can live together peacefully. He considered the boycott a success.
"I was President of the Usher Board at Mt. Zion [Baptist Church]. But I did not participate because we were working [at the Post Office] under what was called the Hatch Act, which said that we could not deal in politics, or we could lose our jobs. Of course that didn't stop me from making contributions financially to the cause. That was the only way that I could support the boycott."
Isadore Tansil,
boycott supporter
(hear excerpt)
Tansil was born December 7, 1917 and lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, Florence, married since 19100. At the time of the boycott, Tansil worked for the Federal Post Office, who requested their workers not to openly participate in the boycott. Mr. Tansil was known as the "Whistling Postman," and the community always knew when he was delivering mail. He was well acquainted with everyone in his community and knows well the history of the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott. He contributed financially to the cause and also attended the mass meetings. Mr. Tansil was a member of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church even before he met Reverend Jemison. He respected the Reverend for calling for the boycott because many times he had to ride the bus and had experienced the humiliation himself. Mr. Tansil said that sitting on the bus was something that you accepted, because "you had no unity, no strength to do anything." He said the black community was overjoyed by the boycott. There were many anonymous contributors, black as well as white. "We were glad that there was enough support for the movement that was going on." Mr. Tansil spoke of white ladies picking up their maids and filling their cars with anyone else who was going their way. He said, "That sort of thing brought a lot of camaraderie for a lot of us." Mr. Tansil spoke well of the white bus drivers and said that the driver he used to ride with always dropped him off at his house rather than at the corner. But there were a couple of incidents on the buses that weren't so nice: one incident involved a bus driver who told Mr. Tansil to move because he was in the wrong seat. Tansil was with his son at the time, so he walked up to the front of the bus and kindly spoke to the driver. The driver asked him if he was a preacher or something, and let Mr. Tansil sit where he wanted after that. Tansil felt the Boycott was successful. The results were the respect and relief of the people. He seemed quite content with that idea.
"[We] stayed at [Rev. Jemison's] house and protected him while he slept, he and his family. And anywhere he wanted to go, in or out of state, we saw fit that he would get there safely. I think he was well satisfied. It was just like you were a footsoldier patroling a line of duty, you understand? See that nobody disturbed the meeting. That was our job. We weren't in a position to question him. Our position was to protect him."
Freddie W. Greene,
bodygaurd to Rev. Jemison
(hear excerpt)
Mr. Greene was born in Baton Rouge, March of 1919. He was in his twenties when Reverend Jemison asked him and others to be his bodyguards. Jemison needed someone he could trust. Mr. Greene's job was to drive the Reverend to all of his meetings and anywhere else, even if it meant going out of the State. Greene would stand outside the meetings and keep watch. He would also stay at the Reverend Jemison's home at night and watch the streets while the Reverend and his family slept. He felt it was "a pleasure to be of service." Mr. Greene said there were many supporters of the boycott, both financially and otherwise. He recalls going into stores and having money in envelopes slipped under the counter because these storekeepers and workers would not want to be known as supporting the Boycott. Mr. Greene said, "It was a pleasure to serve. It was something I had to do. " Greene's family did not ride the buses. His mother walked to work, "She was a strong woman." Even though his family was not directly affected by the boycott, they still supported it. Mr. Greene stayed at the Reverend's home during this time. His wife worked as a teacher out of town during the week, so Greene did not have to worry about her while he was away. He remembered when the crowds got so large that the meetings were moved to Memorial Stadium in Baton Rouge. Greene did not question the Reverend and the other leaders. He was proud to be part of the movement. It was better than standing on the corner. He said that his position was to protect, "I was there to do my job." Mr. Greene did have one question (one he kept to himself all these years): "Why did we give up so soon?" He feels that the Boycott was worth the effort, but does feel that racism is still alive. He wishes in the future that will change. "Together we stand, divided we fall," quoted Mr. Greene.
"Life wasn't like it is now."
Johnnie A. Jones,
legal counsel for boycott
Mr. Jones was born on November 30, 1919 in Laurel Hill, Louisiana. He is a lawyer and was involved with the Boycott in that capacity. Mr. Jones had just come home to Baton Rouge as a new lawyer working for the United Defense League when the bus boycott was being planned. Reverend Jemison asked Mr. Jones to serve as legal counsel to the movement. Jones agreed, having been arrested and beaten by a policeman when he was a young man. Mr. Jones said that "Life wasn't like it is now." He was involved in every meeting. He conferred with Martin Luther King, Jr. when Reverend King visited the city to learn how the Baton Rouge Boycott worked. Reverend King wanted to learn of legal plans and the free ride system. Johnnie Jones remembers one thing that Dr. King told Reverend Jemison when he visited. According to Jones, King said, "I do nothing without those two people with me: my lawyer and my English teacher. My lawyer tells me what is legal, and my English teacher tells me what is proper to say. Those are the two people I listen to." Mr. Jones was surprised when Ordinance 222 passed. He could not understand how it could have passed without legal review when it was presented to the public for the first time. He felt that he wasn't consulted about the ordinance before it was passed. Mr. Jones was proud of the job he did, considering the boycott his "mission." But there were some misgivings. Mr. Jones said Reverend Jemison did not want to go to jail and did not want to take this case past the local courts; he did not want to go to the Supreme Court. But because Reverend Jemison was at the helm, Jones was unwilling to take this action.
Eddie Johnson
Mr Eddie Johnson was born on November 19, 1940. He is the son of Mr. Eddie Johnson Sr, and Mrs. Bernice Lawrence Johnson. Mr. Johnson was a teenager during the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott. Currently, Mr. Johnson is the director of the Leo S. Butler Community Center. He shares with McKinley student Jamahl Fields vivid accounts of his experiences growing up in a segregated community and watching the wall of institutionalized racism come crumbling down.
(interview transcript)
Patricia A. Robinson
Ms. Patricia Ann Robinson was born October 16, 1957. She is the daughter of Mr. James Robinson and Mrs. Alamo Robinson. Currently, Ms. Robinson is Director of Special Projects with the Louisiana Department of Economic Development. She shares with Historian Erin Porche, stories about the 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott Movement. She shared her story with student Erin Porche.
(interview transcript)
James Batiste
Mr. James Batiste was born on January 12, 1947 in New Roads, Louisiana. He is the son of Mr. Lawerence Batiste and Mrs. Alberta Batiste. Currently, Mr. Batiste is a Custodian at McKinley Sr. High School. He shared his story with student Rahshada Jenkins.
(interview transcript)
