Threads of a Story

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of fellow arrestees.

Bernard LaFayette, Jr. has been a Civil Rights Movement activist, minister, educator, lecturer, and is an authority on the strategy on nonviolent social change. He co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. He was a leader of the Nashville Movement, 1960 and on the Freedom Rides, 1961 and the 1965 Selma Movement. He directed the Alabama Voter Registration Project in 1962, and he was appointed National Program Administrator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and National Coordinator of the 1968 Poor Peoples' Campaign by Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition, Dr. LaFayette has served as Director of Peace and Justice in Latin America; Chairperson of the Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development; Director of the PUSH Excel Institute; and minister of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tuskegee, Alabama (Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at University of Rhode Island).

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of fellow arrestees.

Bernard LaFayette, Jr. has been a Civil Rights Movement activist, minister, educator, lecturer, and is an authority on the strategy on nonviolent social change. He co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. He was a leader of the Nashville Movement, 1960 and on the Freedom Rides, 1961 and the 1965 Selma Movement. He directed the Alabama Voter Registration Project in 1962, and he was appointed National Program Administrator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and National Coordinator of the 1968 Poor Peoples' Campaign by Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition, Dr. LaFayette has served as Director of Peace and Justice in Latin America; Chairperson of the Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development; Director of the PUSH Excel Institute; and minister of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tuskegee, Alabama (Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at University of Rhode Island).

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Carolyn Yvonne Reed was a twenty-one year old nurse's aid at Meharry Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee when she was arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for her participation in a Freedom Ride. As part of the Freedom Ride, Reed took a bus from Montgomery, Alabama to Jackson, Mississippi where she was arrested, along with thirteen others, at the Trailways terminal on 2 June 1961.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Birmingham, AL native, 21-year-old Catherine Burks was a student at Tennessee State University when she volunteered for the Nashville Movement Freedom Ride. On May 18, she bantered with the ultra-segregationist Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor as he drove the Nashville riders from jail back to the Tennessee state line. 

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Charles Cox and several other local high school students joined in on the Freedom Rides, but were immediately arrested at the bus station and kept separate from the out-of-state Freedom Riders.

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Charles Cox and several other local high school students joined in on the Freedom Rides, but were immediately arrested at the bus station and kept separate from the out-of-state Freedom Riders.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Cordell Reagon, who was arrested more than thirty times in the South for his anti-segregation activities, conducted nonviolent training workshops for hundreds of volunteers who journeyed to the South to work on voter registration campaigns and other civil rights projects.

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

C.T. Vivian is a distinguished minister, author, and organizer. A leader in the Civil Rights Movement and friend to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he participated in Freedom Rides and sit-ins across our country.

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

C.T. Vivian is a distinguished minister, author, and organizer. A leader in the Civil Rights Movement and friend to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he participated in Freedom Rides and sit-ins across our country.

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

David Fankhauser was a 19 year old Central State University student who spent 42 days in a Mississippi jail for not leaving a black-only Trailways waiting room in Jackson, Miss. He was one of 350 Freedom Riders jailed that year for “breach of peace.”

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

David Morton, a Minnesota native, was a folk singer and freelance writer. He joined the Greyhound ride from Nashville, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi where he was arrested in June 1961.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

A resident of Noblesville, Indiana, as a 21-year old Central State College student, William Carl Mahoney joined the Freedom Ride from Nashville to Jackson, Mississippi in Montgomery, Alabama on May 28, 1961.

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

In the summer of 1961, the Freedom Riders, a group of mostly young people, both black and white, including Eddie Austin, risked their lives to challenge the system of segregation in interstate travel in the South. 

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Frances Wilson was a student at Tennessee State University. Her ride: Nashville, Tennessee, via Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi (Greyhound).

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Frances Wilson was a student at Tennessee State University. Her ride: Nashville, Tennessee, via Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi (Greyhound).

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of newspaper headlines.

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of newspaper headlines.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

In the summer of 1961, the Freedom Riders, a group of mostly young people, both black and white, including Frank Nelson, risked their lives to challenge the system of segregation in interstate travel in the South. 

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Gainnel Hayes was a student at Rowan Junior High School in Jackson. In the summer of 1961, the Freedom Riders, a group of mostly young people, both black and white, including Miss Hayes, risked their lives to challenge the system of segregation in interstate travel in the South. 

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Gainnel Hayes was a student at Rowan Junior High School in Jackson. In the summer of 1961, the Freedom Riders, a group of mostly young people, both black and white, including Miss Hayes, risked their lives to challenge the system of segregation in interstate travel in the South. 

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of fellow arrestees. 

Nineteen-year-old Hank Thomas joined the 1961 Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Freedom Ride at the last minute after his roommate John Moody dropped out with a bad case of the flu. 

"When folks ask me what incident led me to ride," he said years later. "I can't say it was one. When you grow up and face this humiliation every day, there is no one thing. You always felt that way." 

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of fellow arrestees. 

Nineteen-year-old Hank Thomas joined the 1961 Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Freedom Ride at the last minute after his roommate John Moody dropped out with a bad case of the flu. 

"When folks ask me what incident led me to ride," he said years later. "I can't say it was one. When you grow up and face this humiliation every day, there is no one thing. You always felt that way." 

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide and collage on canvas.

Helen Singleton was a student at Santa Monica City College in Los Angeles, California when she rode an Illinois Central train from New Orleans, Louisiana to Jackson, Mississippi as part of the Freedom Rides of 1961. Singleton, along with more than a dozen others, was arrested on 30 July 1961 in Jackson, Mississippi for her participation in the Freedom Ride. Both her and her husband, Robert Singleton, were arrested.

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of newspaper article.

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

James L. Farmer was a civil rights activist and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. He was the initiator and organizer of the 1961 Freedom Ride, which eventually led to the desegregation of inter-state transportation in the United States.

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

James L. Farmer was a civil rights activist and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. He was the initiator and organizer of the 1961 Freedom Ride, which eventually led to the desegregation of inter-state transportation in the United States.

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of newspaper article.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Her Freedom Ride began in St. Louis, Missouri, and continued through Little Rock, Arkansas; Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Texarkana, Texas; Beaumont, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and New Orleans, Louisiana. The goal was to observe the circumstances at different stations and on the buses and to avoid getting arrested. She and others were arrested and sent to the Little Rock jail. Charged with and found guilty of breach of peace, Braun-Reinitz had the option to serve six months or leave the state within twenty-four hours. She was brought to the Ku Klux Klan headquarters.

2011 22"x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of newspaper images.

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of newspaper article.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Joan Pleune, who was then a senior at Cal-Berkeley, had a deep tan at the time and was mistakenly placed in the "colored" cell-block until jailers later realized she was the sister of another white Freedom Rider arrested a few day earlier, who was in the white cells. "It really just showed you how silly it all was," she recalls.

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

She rode on an Illinois Central train from New Orleans to Jackson, Mississippi, with members of Congress of Racial Equality. On June 4, 1961, at the age of 19, she was arrested, and refused to pay bail. She was transferred to the Parchman State Prison Farm. Due to her involvement in the Freedom Rides, Joan was charged with breach of peace and jailed for more than two months.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

In the summer of 1961, Siegel - then a 19-year-old UC Berkeley student named Jorgia Siegel - was one of 450 Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson, MS. Charged with the crime of “breach of the peace” (i.e. traveling on a train alongside black people), she spent 40 days locked up in the maximum-security wing of the Mississippi State Penitentiary known as Parchman Farm.

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

In the summer of 1961, Siegel - then a 19-year-old UC Berkeley student named Jorgia Siegel - was one of 450 Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson, MS. Charged with the crime of “breach of the peace” (i.e. traveling on a train alongside black people), she spent 40 days locked up in the maximum-security wing of the Mississippi State Penitentiary known as Parchman Farm.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide and collage on canvas.

Lewis Zuchman was one of the original 1961 Freedom Riders and has been recognized for his significant contributions to the civil rights movement in recent books, including “Breach of Peace” and “The Freedom Riders”.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide and collage on canvas.

Lewis Zuchman was one of the original 1961 Freedom Riders and has been recognized for his significant contributions to the civil rights movement in recent books, including “Breach of Peace” and “The Freedom Riders”.

2011 48'' x 72'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Pauline Knight-Ofosu, a Tennessee State University student, boarded a bus with a group of civil rights activists and set out to challenge the South’s segregation of passengers on interstate transport.

Knight-Ofosu was prepared for the possible backlash – mob attacks, savage beatings, arrests and even death – but she remained steadfast on her quest to do what was right. 

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of fellow arrestees. 

The 21-year-old Tennessee State student was the drum major in the University marching band when, in 1961, he became involved in the Nashville Movement. Patton arrived in Montgomery, AL on Tuesday, May 23 to help reinforce the riders meeting at the home of Dr. Harris after the May 21 firebombing and siege of Montgomery's First Baptist Church. 

Ernest "Rip" Patton, Jr. took part in the May 24, 1961 Greyhound Freedom Ride to Jackson, MS, where he was arrested and later transferred to Mississippi's notorious Parchman State Prison Farm. 

2011 22" x 28" Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage of fellow arrestees. 

The 21-year-old Tennessee State student was the drum major in the University marching band when, in 1961, he became involved in the Nashville Movement. Patton arrived in Montgomery, AL on Tuesday, May 23 to help reinforce the riders meeting at the home of Dr. Harris after the May 21 firebombing and siege of Montgomery's First Baptist Church. 

Ernest "Rip" Patton, Jr. took part in the May 24, 1961 Greyhound Freedom Ride to Jackson, MS, where he was arrested and later transferred to Mississippi's notorious Parchman State Prison Farm. 

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

In the summer of 1961, the Freedom Riders, a group of mostly young people, both black and white, including Robert Bass, risked their lives to challenge the system of segregation in interstate travel in the South. 

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

In the summer of 1961, the Freedom Riders, a group of mostly young people, both black and white, including Robert Bass, risked their lives to challenge the system of segregation in interstate travel in the South. 

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide and collage on canvas.

UCLA student, Robert Singleton participated in the New Orleans, Louisiana to Jackson Mississippi Freedom Ride on the Illinois Central Railroad on July 30, 1961. He was arrested for his part in the Freedom Rides. Both he and his wife, Helen Singleton, were arrested.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

In the summer of 1961, Theresa Walker - then a 33-year-old mother joined the freedom rides with her husband. Together they were arrested while their children were looked after by her parents.

2011 22'' x 28'' Materials: Oil, acrylic, iron oxide, and collage.

Winonah Beamer was arrrested on June 9, 1961, at the Trailways station in Jackson, Mississippi. Beamer was one of a handful of Riders who refused to bail out ever, serving her entire sentence. She was released on Christmas Day, 1961. David Myers (another Freedom Rider) and Beamer were married in April 1962. Today they live in Ellenton, Florida.